anaheim-bulletin 1959-04-01

Study Reveals Drivers Should Slow at Night By LOUIS CASSELS United Press International WASHINGTON (UPI) — The average driver does not slow down at night. He should. That is one of the most significant findings reached by the U.S. Bureau of Public Roads in a three-year study of highway accidents in all parts of the nation. The bureau analyzed 3,700,000 vehicle-miles of actual travel by 290,000 drivers over typical sections of main rural highways. It found that night and day speeds averaged about the same. But it also found that accident involvement rates at night were twice as high on the average, as in daytime. At speeds of 70 miles an hour and higher, the night time rate was four times as great. Age A Major Factor There was some evidence that darkness, per se, is not the chief reason for higher accident rates at night. Fatigue, intoxication and other factors apparently contribute. It was found that fatal accident rates reached a sharp peak between 2 and 4 a.m., but were less than half as high between 9 and 11 p.m. — both periods of darkness. The study confirmed that the age of the driver has a major bearing on the accident rate. Drivers between 30 and 60 years of age had the lowest accident involvement rate. Those under 20 had the highest — 250 per cent higher than the average for all drivers. Drivers between the ages of 20 and 24, and those 65 and older, had accident rates nearly double the average. However much young people may protest the finding, the study also showed that young drivers The study confirmed that the age of the driver has a major bearing on the accident rate. Drivers between 30 and 60 years of age had the lowest accident involvement rate. Those under 20 had the highest — 250 per cent higher than the average for all drivers. Drivers between the ages of 20 and 24, and those 65 and older, had accident rates nearly double the average. However much young people may protest the finding, the study also showed that young drivers cannot handle higher speeds as well as more mature drivers. At speeds beyond 65 miles an hour the accident rate for drivers under 24 rises much more steeply than the average for older drivers. Holiday Perils Real The study pinpointed members of the armed forces as a particularly reckless class of drivers on the whole. Servicemen in all age brackets had an accident rate twice as great as that of civilian drivers of comparable age. And what about the ancient male contention that women drivers are less trustworthy at the wheel than men? The bureau's statistics show that women had a daytime accident rate 18 per cent higher and a night time accident rate 38 per cent higher than men of the same age bracket. But — if professional male drivers (bus and truck drivers, chauffeurs, etc.) are eliminated, the accident rates for men and women drivers are approximately equal. Are the widely-publicized perils of holiday travel real — or an invention of the newspapers? They are real. The study shows that it is approximately 25 per cent riskier, per vehicle-mile of travel, to venture onto the highways over a major holiday period. One-day midweek holidays produce a worst slaughter than those that occur on a week end. Christmas is the worst. New Year's, for some reason, has a relatively low accident rate as holidays go. Alcohol Affects Driving The safety slogans which warn against drinking-and-driving were powerfully corroborated. The bureau reported that driving performances were affected by "even small amounts of alcohol." Drivers who were found upon testing to have between 0.05 and 0.10 per cent alcohol in their blood had an accident involvement rate 50 per cent higher than those with no alcohol or less than 0.05 per cent (It takes about two highballs or two bottles of beer to produce a concentration of 0.05 per cent in the average adult). against drinking-and-driving were powerfully corroborated. The bureau reported that driving performances were affected by "even small amounts of alcohol." Drivers who were found upon testing to have between 0.05 and 0.10 per cent alcohol in their blood had an accident involvement rate 50 per cent higher than those with no alcohol or less than 0.05 per cent (It takes about two highballs or two bottles of beer to produce a concentration of 0.05 per cent in the average adult.) Drivers with 0.15 per cent alcohol in their blood — the legal standard of intoxication in many states — had an accident rate 10 times as great as those with less than 0.05 per cent. The bureau reported preliminary evidence that a wide variety of common drugs — including tranquilizers, antihistamines, barbituates and even aspirin — may affect vision or alertness and increase the risk of accidents. Further research will be done on this factor. CHP Checks SACRAMENTO' (UP1) — The California Highway Patrol checked 1,751,133 commercial vehicles last year for violations of state law. In their investigation patrolmen caused about 46 million pounds of overload to be adjusted or removed. CUT RATE HAIRCUTS 1.25 WHY PAY MORE? Topper's Barber Shop Ball Road & E. Los Angeles Bl. (Market Basket) Ralphs SINCE 1873 SA Top quality, conditioned for te Unconditionally Guaranteed Meat so you get less shrinka APRIL IS "MORE MEA CAKE MIX APRIL IS "MORE MEAL" CAKE MIX LSBURY Chocolate Fudge, Orange, Pineapple, Spice, White or Yellow 4 17-oz. Pkgs. $100 CAT FOOD BONNIE TUNA 2 6-oz. Cans 15c Plus 1c Tax ORANGE JUICE KOLD KIST FROZEN Beef Stew KING SIZE 33 One Full Pound... 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