CONTROLLING AN INCREASING ACCIDENT TOLL

BYHENRYBRmRE Third Vice Presidsnt, Metropolitan Life Insurance Co.

Educational campaign, following an e ngincering trafic survey, brings - - ~ .. results in Albany. :: .. Snr months of organized educa-

tional community effort in safety in Albany, N. Y., during the latter half of 1926, have reduced accidental deaths 28 per cent as compared with the record during the same period of last year. Industrial, public and home fatalities have all been cut in numbers, the latter type showing a remarkable drop, only two deaths having been reported during this period as against seven in 1925.

As a group, children under @teen years of age have benefited most by the safety program that has been instituted -an anticipated result, since experi- ence in other cities has shown that chil- dren are generally first to respond to an educational movement of a scope and influence that will compel their atten- tion and arouse their interest. Where- as four school children met accidental death in the city during the six months prior to the inauguration of the safety program, none have been killed subse- quently. Non-fatal traffic accidents to children have also been reduced 33% per cent since the incorporation of safety instruction inthe public school curricula.

The above statement should serve as conclusive evidence to the sceptic that safety may become a fact rather than a theory in any well-ordered community today, notwithstanding the increasing complexities of life, the rapidly multi- plying hazards to life and limb encoun- tered at work, upon the street or in the home, and the constant speeding up of transportation and industry.

.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. REMEDIAL MEASURES MUST INCLUDE

EDUCATION

Accidents cannot be stopped solely by stricter law enforcement, by me- chanical protective devices, by heavier court sentences imposed by enlightened judges, or by compulsory measures alone. Ignorance, faulty habits or careless actions are largely at the root of the evil. Remedial measures, if effec- tive, must be of an educational nature; must encourage each individual citizen to assume a different attitude regarding his responsibilities of citizenship and must encourage him to adopt habits suitable to the complex, hazardous en- vironment of today. Certain controls must be developed in the individual, his cooperation secured and an interest in his own safety, as well as that of his fellow citizens, aroused.

Early in 1986 the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, together with the New York State Conference of Mayors and Other Municipal Officials, under- took to conduct a demonstration in some city in New York to determine the most practical way a city could study and remedy its traffic problem and organize for the prevention of public accidents. The city of Albany was selected. Under the leadership of Mayor Thacher and his administra- tion, a pioneer traffic control program, coupled with educational accident pre- vention effort, was determined upon and the cooperation of local civic organizations obtained.

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156 NATIONAL I W ” A L REVIEW

ALBANY TRAFFIC SURVEY

The first step in the demonstration consisted of an exhaustive engineering study of traffic congestion and its causes, the movement of traffic and methods of traffic control then in effect. The findings of this survey, conducted by a traffic commission appointed by the mayor, emphasized the importance of several radical re- visions of traffic control measures. Provisions for each measure were carefully determined upon and sub- mitted to the mayor. The majority of these recommendations have sub- sequently been adopted by the common council and enacted into law. They have also been published by the Met- ropolitan Life Insurance Company in a printed report, entitled “The Traffic Problem” and made available to other communities as a guide to similar activities.

To insure effective results from these engineering revisions in terms of both traffic acceleration and accident pre- vention, to stamp them with public approval and to propagate the safety idea and reach the public at large with the safety message, the traffic com- mission early recognized as the para- mount need of the demonstration a community-wide educational safety program, to impress upon all citizens the seriousness of increasing hazards to life and limb and to encourage all to adopt and follow habits of safety in their daily lives.

To accomplish this end Mayor Thacher invited the leading civic, service and commercial organizations, the press and school authorities, to appoint representatives to serve on the Albany Central Safety Committee, the clearing house for information and the directing agency for the safety campaign. Each organization thus represented, as its contribution to the

work, undertook a specific portion of a well-defined, sensible program of educa- tion, which experience in other cities had proved to be effective.

ALBANY BECOMING “S,WETYIZED ”

Every proven means of publicity is being utilized to drive home the safety message. Large safety posters with striking slogans, changed monthly, are displayed at street intersections, in street cars, in buses and in public buildings. The reading public has been reached by the press, which as its contribution used its columns to carrv safety editorials, photographs, illus- trated talks on home and public accident hazards and news items. Or- ganization meetings feature the work; outdoor motion pictures on safety have been shown; safety has been taught on the playgrounds during the summer and the women’s organizations have stimulated parents’ cooperation.

The public schools have devised and put into operation a plan in- corporating safety instruction in the regular classroom subjects, have ap- pointed “Safety Patrols” and or- ganized safety clubs among the chil- dren, thus giving accident prevention the place that it deserves as an im- portant objective in the education of a child. In addition, a Safe Drivers’ Club has been organized among motor- ists to spread a spirit of careful and courteous driving throughout the city.

Albany is certainly benefiting. Ac- cidental fatalities are being reduced, fewer children killed or crippled, and suffering, sorrow and poverty are being prevented. The city is becoming a happier, better, safer place in which to work and live, ample reward for the effort expended. The campaign’s slo- gan, “Make Albany the Safest City in the World,” is on the way toward accomplishment.