I
‘ tune 5, 1952
NEWS
PAGE THREE
Americans Future Progress
Depends on More and Safer
HIGHWAYS
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For many years, we Americans were proud
of our system of streets and highways. But
today, many of them are so out-of-date that
they have become liabilities rather than assets.
•Last year,-37,500 merti women and children lost
their lives in automobile accidents, and a large
percentage of them would still be alive if our
streets and highways were adequate to meet our
traffic needs.
The United States has two and a half times as
many motor vehicles as all the other countries
of the world combined. No other nation on earth
relies so heavily on automotive transportation for
the mass movement of people and products. More
than 40,000 communities are completely depend
ent on cars, trucks and buses for all of their
transportation needs. Three-fourths of all passen-
Ber travel between cities, towns and farms goes
by car*or bus. Two-thirds of all freight is shipped
by truck during some part of its journey. There
fore, it is vital that the automotive vehicles, on
^hich we so largely depend, be kept moving
Quickly, economically and safely.
Accidents Cost $3/500,000,000 in 1951
With automobile registrations increasing every
year, this situation will get worse as time goes on
unless steps are taken immediately by towns,
cities, counties, states and the federal government,
individually and collectively, to modernize our
obsolete street and highway systems. Americans
afe beginning to realize that installing more stop
Signs, re-routing trucks, reducing car speeds and
other restrictive measures taken in the interest of
Safety provide no permanent solution to the
problem. Last year, the economic loss from traffic
accidents totaled three and a half billion dollars.
This is more than was spent on the entire system
°/ highways, roads and streets.
Shortly after the turn of the century, my
father became a leader in the Good Roads move-
J^ent. Later, in 1918, he pioneered the Ship-by-
Truck movement which gave impetus to the
development of the trucking industry. These two
**^ovements were instrumental in arousitig the
A-merican people to the full possibilities of
automotive vehicles and to the necessity for
providing an adequate system of streets and high
ways over which these vehicles could operate
swiftly, comfortably and safely. As a result, shortly
after the first World War, the United States began
building a nationwide system of hard-surfaced
roads.
Most Present Highways Are Obsolete
Most of our present highways were designed
and built during those years, when car speeds
were low, when truck loads were light and when
the volume of motor travel was small. Twenty-five
years ago, there were only twenty million motor
vehicles. Today, there are nearly fifty-two million.
Yet, during the past quarter of a century little
has been done to expand our highway system to
keep pace with the growth in traffic volume.
In an effort to prevent accidents, so many stop
signs and traffic lights have been installed that
driving has become irritating, laborious and slow.
In many of our large cities traffic is so heavy that
it is sometimes faster to walk than to ride. The
answer seems to lie in the construction of wider
streets and express freeways rather than in trying
to make horse-and-buggy streets serve hundred-
horsepower needs.
Parking is another serious problem. Street
parking narrows down the available lanes for
traffic flow and parked cars are a hazard which
frequently cause accidents. In many communities,
parking facilities are so inadequate that a dis
proportionate amount of time must be spent
trying to find a place to park or else the car must
be parked so far from the destination that public
transportation facilities must be used. Many
believe that skyscraper parking buildings, with a
narrow taxable frontage on the street, and under-
ground parking garages will be the ultimate
answer.
The basic principles of safety which are
learned by young people during their formative
years are likely to remain with them throughout
their lives. Every high school should provide a
course in driver training. Statistics show that
Bchool'trained drivers have twice as good a safety
record as untrained drivers of the same age. Yet;
today, only about one out of every five eligible
high school students receives this instruction.
Another step essential to the reduction of
accidents is the adoption of uniform signals,
markings and traffic laws. Today, for example,
the various states have sixteen different methods
of marking center lines and three different rules
for making left turns. This situation creates
endless confusion in long distance travel.
Another cause of many accidents is unsafe
vehicles. But America’s great nationwide net
work of automobile, gasoline and tire dealers,
with their unmatched repair and replacement
facilities, makes it easy to keep automobiles in
safe driving condition at all times.
According to competent authorities, it will
take five to seven billion dollars a year for the
next fifteen years to build essential roads, to
modernize existing highways and to maintain our
present system in a satisfactory condition. This
gives us some comprehension of the magnitude
of the task that lies ahead.
P. A. R. Is New Good Roads Movement
Recently, some forty national organizations,
representing highway users, industry, business,
agriculture and other interested parties, have
united in an effort to promote an adequate nation
wide highway program. This new Good Roads
movement is called P. A. R., which stands for
Project Adequate Roads, and its purpose is to
bring the nation’s highway system up to par with
our country’s needs. If this movement is to suc
ceed, it must have the support of every American.
Our streets and highways are vitally important
to the future of our country. It is imperative that
we concentrate our attention on the chaotic con
ditions into which our traffic system has fallen
as a result of long neglect and the tremendous
increase in motor vehicle travel. To delay any
longer is to invite disaster which may cost thou
sands of lives and billions of dollars. Americans
future progress depends on more and safer
highways.
The firestone tire &. rubber company