Rear-End Auto Collisions
Number One Accident Cause
The number one automobile ac
cident cause in the United States
is rear-end collisions.
They account for one out of
every 10 traffic mishaps, rate as
the leading cause of deaths and
injuries on expressways and turn
pikes. where cars speed in packs.
According to highway safety
advisers, the following are the
major factors behind the growing
number of rear-end crashes:
1. Expressways. Normally three
times safer than ordinary roads,
they breed rear-end collisions for
several reasons. One is their fos
tering of “highway hypnosis."
Higher speeds are also a factor.
At 50 to 60 miles an hour, drivers
are apt to maintain between-car
intervals that were suitable for
30 miles-an-hour.
A false sense of security is a
further hazard. Emergency sit
uations seem less likely on super
highways. It is the turnpike
straightaway, however, on which
most rear-end crashes occur.
| There, rather than on hills or
| curves, most motorists elect to
stop. There, also, drivers tend to
j increase speed and become less
i attentive.
2. Night. Nearly two-thirds of
all traffic deaths occur after
i dark. Some drivers, affected by
drowsiness or turnpike hypnosis
even have followed a vehicle's tail
light as it pulled over to the
shoulder of the road, then realized
too late it was stopping.
Motorists also readily "over
! drive” their headlights. The rate
j of speed should always permit
a car to stop within headlight
range.
3. Bad weather. This is espe
cially significant, particularly the
hazards inherent in fog, which are
regularly underestimated.
Recently, on the Garden State
Parkway, in New Jersey, on a
SHALLOTTE HARDWARE
GLEN WILLIAMSON — ALTON MILLIKEN
OLETTA BENNETT
SHALLOTTE, N. C.
foggy morning, despite the post
ing of “Fog Ahead" signs, 59
cars were involved in a series of
rear-end collisions, injuring 28
persons.
Rain, however, usually creates
the most rear-end collisions.
4. Between-car distances. This
is perhaps the leading cause of
rear-end collisions following too
closely. As translated in most
states, the correct distance be
tween cars means at least one car
length (15 feet) for every 10
miles an hour of speed.
At the same time the physical
cause of U. S. auto accidents are
being studied and defined, other
surveys are being centered on the
human factors in traffic safety,
according to Avis.
The Traffic Institute at North
western University, at Evanston,
111., is widely engaged in catalog
uing the emotional factors of
drivers involved in auto accidents.
Harvard Medical School, at Cam
bridge, Mass., is searching for
helpful clues for better safety by
analyzing the life histories of a
number of drivers involved in
fatal highway crashes. These are
only two of many similar pro
jects.
Every highway accident in
volved three elements: the driver,
their vehicles, and their environ
ment, or “driving situation.” Im
portant among these is the drink
ing driver, involved in more than
half of the fatal accidents over
the past 10 years. Recent re
search has been able to pinpoint
the ratio of danger to the degree
of alcohol consumption.
The driver with an alcohol
blood content of 0.15 per cent by
weight, likely after perhaps six
bottles of beer, is 10 times as apt
to have an accident as the one
who has drunk only a third as
much.
Physiological factors are also
important in auto accident causes.
Excessive smoking, they have de
termined, can sometimes affect
both vision and general alertness,
especially in high altitudes or un-!
del- conditions of faulty ventila
tion.
Those for whom certain drugs
are prescribed, including some I
tranquilizers, may also constitute j
new highway hazards.
Even though mature drivers, in j
general, tend to be safer than j
young ones, advancing years
bring some problems for motor
ists. These are the subject of
several special government and
private studies.
For example, the amount of
light required to see a dimly-lit
object doubles, among adults,
every 13 years. And since the
average age-level of the popula
tion is rising, and already two
thirds of fatal auto accidents
happen in the dark or near-dark,
the light requirements of older
drivers are having a big bearing
on the illumination of new high
ways.
Many of the new studies are
aimed at finding out more about
driver fatigue. The effects of fa
tigue, it has been established, do
not always proceed in a straight
line with accumulating hours of
driving. Among a large group of
drivers recently observed over a
long period there were more ac
cidents in the first three hours
on the road than afterwards.
Later stages of fatigue, this
study showed, quite commonly
produced highway hallucinations,
however. Out of this group ot'
long-stretch drivers, 30 reported
when driving very late and they |
were extremely tired, they had '
seen on the road ahead such
imaginary objects as a herd of
mules, a flock of sheep, and. in
one case, an old southern mansion
across the highway.
One of the most important
things about highway safety to- |
day is the highway itself. Every
thing that can be learned about,
drivers in relationship to the road
is being utilized now by highway
builders and engineers.
The nationwide complex of in
terstate highways, now under
construction, are designed to
meet tins particular needs of hu- j
man beings at the wheel, rather
than just for the vehicles them- g
selves. Artificial curves, rest
areas and other built-in devices |
are being included in the plans
to help prevent "highway hyp
nosis.” i
HOT DOGS—
SANDWICHES- -
TRY
DARI - MAID
SHALLOTTE, N C.
■ ■ ■
CELEBRATING
10 YEARS OF GROWTH
AND PROGRESS
IN NORTH CAROLINA
PULP & PAPERBOARD DIVISION
OF
Riegel Paper Corporation
ACME, NORTH CAROLINA
1951 - DECEMBER 15 - 1961
THEN
■)
300 Employees
$2,000,000 Yearly Payroll
*
$2,000,000 Yearly Wood Purchase
200 Tons Pulp Produce Daily
NOW:
1000 Employees
$7,000,000 Yearly Payroll
$8,000,000 Yearly Wood Purchase
775 Tons Pulp & Paper Produced
Daily
Producing High-quality, Bleached Pub
and Paperboard for Shipment throughout
the World
As the Three Wise
i
Men did long ago, let us
I
in this holy season look to the Star of
Bethlehem for guidance toward lasting peace on earth.
WILLETTS & SON MOTOR SALES
“Your Friendly Ford Dealer”
BOLIVIA, N. C.
MAE’S BAR-B-QUE
BOLIVIA, N. C.
BOLIVIA CITIES SERVICE
BOLIVIA, N. C.
R. C. Phelps, Owner
ELMORE MOTOR CO.
BOLIVIA, N. C.
GREEN & WHITE RESTAURANT & MOTEL
_ BOLIVIA, N. C.
HICKMAN’S MARKET
General Merchandise—Wallace Hickman, Mgr.
Hickman’s Crossroads, N. C.
BRADSHER’S GARAGE
Specializing In Alignment Service
Hwy. 17, South, Shallotte, N. C.
HICKMAN’S ATLANTIC SERVICE
E. Y. Hickman, Owner
Hickman’s Crossroads, N. C.
SUNSET SEAFOOD
‘Whoesale & Retail—S. B. Somersett, Owner
Sunset Beach, N. C.
TWIN LAKES GROCERY
H. N. Milligan, Owner
Sunset Beach, N. C.
GURGANUS ESSO STATION
Ocean Isle Beach Road
Ocean Isle, N. C.
EL-MYRA RESTAURANT & GROCERY
Hwy 17, Shallotte, N. C.
TRIPP’S FISHING CENTER
Boats—Motors—Tackle
Shallotte Point, N. C.
MILLIKEN’S OYSTER HOUSE
Fresh Oysters Daily
Shallotte Point, N. C.
CARTER’S FISH & OYSTER CO.
Shallotte Point, N. C.
SPIRITTINE CHEMICAL COMPANY
Termite Control—Household Pests
Creosoted Posts, Etc.
Hwy. Jet. 17-74-76, Leland, N. C.
BROWN-HERRING TRACTOR COMPANY
Farmall Tractors
Hwy. Jet. 17-74-76, Wilmington, N. C.
BAREFOOT MATTRESS COMPANY
Made To Any Order
Leland, N. C.
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No Job Too Large or Small
Leland, N. C.
ROURK GROCERY & SERVICE STATION
Leland, N. C.
MILLS ESSO SERVICE
Complete Motoring Service
Highway 17, Winnabow, N. C.
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and SERVICE STATION
General Merchandise—Gas—Oil
Highway 17, Winnabow, N. C.