Orleans High School - Sword Yearbook (Orleans, VT)

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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

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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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money alone, but in human lives and suffering—must be taught unsparingly to all concerned in accidents who are still able to take lessons. The pessimist says, Nothing can be done! There have always been accidents! There will always be accidents!” The optimist says, It must be done! Accidents can never be prevented entirely, but the number can be reduced decidedly!” When a large number of persons begin to study safety, and to practice safety, our accident toll will decrease. The last is particularly important, for Portia was correct when she said, I can easier teach twenty what it were good to be done than to be one of the twenty to follow mine own teach- ing.” Is the young man Absalom safe? About three thousand years ago King David asked this question concerning the fate of his rebellious son. In this machine age any parent who reads the news- papers must be seriously concerned much of the time for the safety of his children. Who can feel safe upon our highways today? Who can be sure that his turn will not be next? It is the outstanding scandal of American life, the supreme shame of the nation. It cries for attention and redress from everyone of us who drives a car. It seems that our only way of reducing the number of accidents lies in teaching pupils to think about safety, to practice safety, and to preach safety to others. What then is more logical to teach them? Study the causes of motor accidents and at least one remedy appears clear. Two-thirds are due to errors in driving. Too many drivers have not yet learned the exacting and difficult task of oper- ating high-powered cars safely in modern fast-moving traffic. It is up to each of us to learn the technique of driving for him- self. No matter how much or how little you have driven, make sure you have mastered it. What subject today is more worthy of study and mastery than the art of driving a car? Nothing in your lives can so directly touch the safety of your family, your friends who ride with you, and yourself. Do not leave it to policemen, judges and hospital internes to make a good driver of you. If you are not will- ing to assume this fundamental obligation of American citizenship, be fair to your fellow human beings. Turn in your license plates and never drive a car again. We fail in our duty if we fail to remember that every man, woman and child ruthlessly slaughtered in the name of insane care- less speed or drunken driving is somebody’s mother, father, wife, husband, or child; and that those left alive, mutilated or not, will spend the rest of their lives mourning the hideous slaughter. Conditions like this must end, and this is the responsibility of the community of which every one of us is an integral part. The lesson should be learned from this moment forward—by the driver, the other occupants of the motor vehicle, and the pedestrian alike. PAGE TWENTY.SIX