Orleans High School - Sword Yearbook (Orleans, VT)

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striking fact of American life today. We miss its significance be- cause we are too close to it. But when a foreigner visits this country for the first time, what impresses him most is the staggering number of automobiles and the complete dependence of the whole nation upon them. And yet with all this homage to the motor car, there is some- thing lacking. While the individual owner enjoys his machine and constantly uses it, in at least a million cases he hasn’t even learned to drive it properly, and in still more cases, he hasn’t learned to keep it in good running order. The dream of cars for everybody has come true and what marvelous cars they are. Motoring in such conveyances is a luxury and convenience that only yesterday was beyond the reach of kings. But the tremendous benefit the automobile has conferred upon us has been marred by an equally tremendous tragedy in the killing and wounding of millions of American people. The machine has turned upon us as though it were a demon of wrath, and has punish- ed us, through our own shortcomings and incompetence, with death and destruction. In spite of improvements in automobiles, the slaughter grows worse. Cars are safer, sturdier, and almost fool-proof. Only about five per cent of the large number of accidents are due to faulty mechanism, and very often these accidents occur because the owner of the car is too careless to have his brakes relined, or too miserly to replace wornout tires. When carelessly driven, an automobile is just as much a weapon of destruction as an airplane bomb or machine gun. It need not be. Accidents are not inseparable from motoring. It is largely a ques- tion of the driver. Statistics show that women drivers are involved in far less fatal accidents than men. As far as road and weather conditions are concerned, four out of every five accidents occur on dry roads and in clear weather. Only one out of five occurs on wet, snowy, or icy roads; or in cloudy, foggy, rainy, or snowy weather. What a pity that the ideal conditions for safe driving breed a criminal recklessness that swells the death and injury totals so appallingly! Instead of dwelling on a long list of figures soon to be forgotten, let’s picture in our minds the people involved. Figures are cold and passionless things; we must begin to put blood and emotion into them. Imagine those killed; their bereaved families; the disfigure- ment and often disability of those injured; and all such horrible truths. All cold and passionless figures mean similar blood and murder, suffering and mutilation, to thousands of people. If you are not one of them yet, you may be tomorrow; you may be before this living day closes. You will be sooner or later unless you aid PAGE TWENTY-FOUR

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RODERICK GALLUP: We present you with these false teeth to help you out in case of an accident when you start your boxing career. MACK CONVERSE: We present to you this new joke book so that you will not have to stay up so late nights just trying to get some jokes to tell to the kids. KERMIT SMITH: We present to you this pair of hand-cuffs to keep Gracie from losing hold of you in the future. RAYMOND CLOUTIER: We present to you this alarm clock to keep you from being late this summer at Bray’s. WILLIAM WEBSTER: We present to you this package of mascara to keep that gleam in your eye. GEORGE STONE: Since you have been in the Navy we pre- sent to you this souvenir of a battleship. ARVID KAHLSTROM: We present to you this money to have on hand whenever your sister comes around asking for some. MISS ROWE: We present to you this putty knife to give the kids to scrape the gum off the floors next year. GRETA MESSIER: We present you with this package of typing paper so you can keep up your good typing. Salutatory SAFETY ON THE HIGHWAYS Members of the Faculty, Fellow Speakers, Students, Ladies and Gentlemen: I have chosen for my subject tonight Safety on the Highways because I believe that the terrible conditions brought about in this age of automobiles can be and must be remedied. A man’s automobile is one of his most cherished possessions. It is woven inextricably into the fabric of his life. Because of its convenience in moving him quickly from place to place, because of its comfort and the sense of luxury it imparts, because of its ability to broaden the scope of his activities by taking him to new regions and enabling him to meet new people, it is vital to his existence. Men sacrificed their homes, underfed their families, gave up everything during the depression to keep their automobiles. V hat greater tribute can be paid a piece of machinery? The rise of the motor car is the outstanding phenomenon of the century, the most 1 A UK TWBNTY-THREE

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in a ceaseless campaign in carelessness which alone can end careless- ness. Someone has said, Accidents do not happen; they are caused.” One of the causes is carelessness. We are in too big a hurry. Selfish- ness or lack of thought for other persons is also a prominent cause of accidents. Many people are courteous when we meet them in the home or office, but they are boorish and utterly selfish when they et behind the wheel of an automobile. The person with an infer- iority complex causes many accidents. He feels that he is not very skillful, and he takes chances to cover up his lack of confidence in bis own ability. The young man may become a show-off” when driving with a young lady. Alcohol in a driver and gasoline in an automobile combine to cause many accidents. One of the two must be given up. Then there is our craze for speed; we must do things in a hurry. Perhaps the best one-word definition of civilization is courtesy, for courtesy is the epitome of all that is implied in the golden rule. Many of the tragedies that have occurred on our highways have been due to lack of courtesy. The very foundation of our American civilization is built on the solid rock of equal rights. Our highways are common property planned and built for the convenience and pleasure of the people as a whole. No one has the right to deprive any individual of that convenience and pleasure. To do so is not only bad sportsmanship, but bad Americanism. Another very dis- courteous act is the failure of a driver to dim his headlights when he meets other cars. In this case, why not do unto others as you would have them do unto you?” Carelessness and speed—not defective cars—cause the most accidents. As to what speed is too fast, this depends on traffic conditions. High speed is clearly improper after dark, when pave- ments are wet and icy, through villages, at intersections, where chil- dren are playing in the street, rounding curves or corners, especially blind ones, or surmounting the top of a hill with no view of the road beyond. In the last two instances, follow the slogan of a famous car producer: Never drive faster than you can see. The Irishman said, It is not the falling so far that hurts but the sudden stopping.” In a similar manner one may argue that it is not the fast driving which hurts but the impact when we collide with something. But remember, the speedy driving increases the chances of colliding. Since there are no walking tests for pedestrians—and we are all pedestrians part of the time—to correspond to the driving tests of drivers, they must use good judgment and follow regulations in crossing streets, etc. Negligence in driving, which results in accidents, must be punished rigorously. And the dreadful cost of accidents—not in PAUK TWENTY-FIVE