Newspaper Page Text
Page 10
— Griffin Daily News Thursday, September 19,1974
Lower speed
cuts deaths
Editor’s Note: This is the
first of two articles on U.S.
Sen. Charles Percy’s proposal
to make the 55-tnile-per-hour
speed limit permanent. In this
article J. L. Recht, manager
of statistics for the National
Public
Notices
CREDITORS
LEGAL 7921
STATE OF GEORGIA
COUNTY OF SPALDING
IN RE: EVERETT T. WILSON,
SR.
All creditors of the Estate of
Robert Fulton Grady ,
deceased, late of Spalding
County, are hereby notified to
render in their demands to the
undersigned according to law
an all persons indebted to said
estate are required to make
immediate payment to me.
(s) Everett Turnell Wilson, Jr.,
Executor of Everett T. Wilson,
Sr., deceased
Carlisle, Johnson & Newton
127'Za East Solomon St.
Griffin, Georgia 30223
Telephone: 227-0110
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Safety Council, explains why
he believes lives saved by the
lower speed limit warrant
further study of the Percy
proposal.
By RANDY THOMAS
Copley News Service
Question: Has your organi
zation determined that the 55-
mile-per-hour speed limit is
indeed a factor in reduced
traffic accidents and resulting
fatalities?
J. L. Recht: There is a
whole batch of information al
though none of it is really
complete.
The type of information for
conclusive proof is lacking.
The state reports, for exam
ple, are usually reported
months after the fact. Nobody
has the whole story, including
the federal government and
everybody in a sense is trying
to obtain data in an effort to
assess the situation.
On the basis of somewhat
incomplete information, I
think the implications are
fairly clear. For example, on
the turnpikes for the first four
months of 1974 the mileage
was down 16 per cent and the
IjKSISi
fatalities were down 59 per
cent.
Q. Is the drop in mileage di
rectly related to the 55 m. p.h.
speed limit?
A. No. The mileage was
down because of the gasoline
shortage. But if you expected
a drop in deaths in respect
just to the drop in mileage,
you should have expected a 16
per cent drop in the deaths —
not 59 per cent.
So even allowing for the
drop in mileage you have a
significant drop in fatalities
which must be attributed to
some other reason. And what
other reason could there be
except the lower speed limit?
We also have some meas
urements of the severity of
accidents. Across the nation
the severity of accidents went
down. In other words, there
were less fatalities per acci
dent. You have to attribute
this to something, perhaps
better construction of cars,
the use of seat belts or some
thing. But to account for the
unusually large drop in fatali
ties and severity of accidents,
it would have to be something
more than the usual measure
ments.
And there are other things.
Beautiful
bugs
Over 625 mini-floats
paraded through Dis
neyland recently as
part of “Herbie Day,” a
contest open to
Volkswagen owners
entering just about any
float they wanted pro
vided a VW bug was
somewhere under, or
part of, their creation.
Some entries in the
bug beautifying con
test spent as many as
150 hours preparing
their masterpieces.
Among the more col
orful entries were an
edible vehicle (left)
called the "bean bug”
since it was covered
by macaroni, corn,
chili peppers, garlic,
beans, peas and any
thing handy. The 49ers
were represented with
a clever entry (right)
using the California
Gold Rush as its
theme. A Groucho
Marx look-alike
(lower, left) charmed
the crowd of 8,000 as
did Uncle Sam (lower,
right) leading the
motorcade.
Speed studies so far this year
show that the speed differen
tial — the speeds between the
slowest- and fastest-moving
vehicles — has been substan
tially lower this. More people
are traveling at closer to the
same speed. And that means
there is less abrasion and few
er trying to pass.
These reductions in the
speed differential and slower
traffic speeds in general have
been noted on roads where the
speed limit is less than 55
m.p.h. So there appears to be
some carry-over.
Q. Do you have statistics to
show that speeding violations
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are down? In other words, are
people really obeying the 55
m.p.h. limit?
A. We don’t have a count on
that. But informally we have
heard arrests are up.
Q. People are not obeying
the limit?
A. No. But the states are en
forcing the law much better
than in the past. Tins is, of
course, not true in all areas of
the country. There is a differ
ential.
Q. Has your organization
taken a stand on the desirabil
ity of retaining the speed limit
indefinitely at 55 m.p.h.?
A. The stand we’ve taken is
that the limit should be re
tained until the matter can be
thoroughly studied.
In other words, not change
it without a complete ex
amination of the entire situ
ation and all the statistics.
Q. Would you advocate an
extension, say at least one
more year?
A. The National Safety
Council has not taken a posi
tion in respect to time itself.
It’s simply that we want the
matter studied. We are con
tinuously trying to do so and
so is the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administra
tion. In fact, there have been
some contracts proposed in
which they’ve attempted to
make some sense out of the
figures and obtain more ac
curate measurements. We do
not want a change made until
the matter has been thorough
ly studied.
Q. Prior to the speed limit
reduction, it was my under
standing that most traffic ac
cidents and fatalities oc
curred on urban roads and not
on rural highways.
A. No, that’s not true.
If you're going to talk in
terms of fatalities in 1972,
there were roughly 18,000 fa
talities in urban areas and
38,400 in rural. It’s almost 2 to
1. There is a much bigger sav
ing of lives in the rural areas.
Q. Most highways are built
to accommodate speeds of up
to 70 m.p.h. Would a perma
nent speed limit reduction
drastically alter highway con
struction in terms of safety
requirements and perhaps
materials?
A. That is not my area of ex
pertise. However, one of the
things we’ve been told is that
people simply feel more com
fortable driving between 55
and 60 m.p.h. rather than at
speeds over 70 m.p.h. They
feel less tense and even after
having spent more time on the
road feel less tired when they
arrive at their destination.
This might be conducive to
better driving in terms of
courtesy, response to signs
and so forth.
You might have a trade-off.
Even though the roads might
be designed for high-speed
travel, many people certainly
do not feel comfortable at
those speeds. Maybe it’s best
to consider the entire situ
ation, the man, the machine
and the road rather than just
the relationship between the
machine and the road.
Q. The speed limit reduction
came about primarily be
cause of the energy shortage.
Now it appears efforts to re
tain the lower speed limit are
based on safety factors.
A. Many people cut back
their speeds voluntarily even
before the limits were legally
reduced. They were told and I
guess it is true that they will
get better gas mileage. I think
this has been a basic factor. I
don’t think they were neces
sarily thinking of safety. I
think the reason is because
the price of gasoline is high.
People are still trying to save
gasoline even though there
may not be an energy short
age. They’re not too con- I
cerned about the supply of
gasoline but rather with not
wasting it.
I
Q. The truckers are natu
rally opposed to retaining the
speed limit at 55 m.p.h.
A. We’ve found in the turn
pike statistics that the truck
traffic during the first months
of this year, compared to last .
year, changed less than 1 per
cent and the fatalities did not
change at all. So they didn't
contribute to this 59 per cent t
decrease. If anything, they
have just held the line in
terms of participation.
Q. The trucking industry *
claims the lower limits mean
more time on the road and
subsequently a loss of money. B
A. This is true. But I think
the large companies accom
modated their schedules. And
it is generally the smaller
companies, the independents,
who are making the most
noise.
.**
Q. Would you favor letting
trucks travel at, say, 65
m.p.h. and keeping cars at 55
m.p.h.? .•
A. Oh, no. That would be a
violation of this differential.
It’s known that the wider the
variation in speeds among ve- • *
hides traveling on the same
road the more likely you are
to have accidents.
. t
Q. Has your organization
taken any stand at all on the
Percy bill?
A. No. There has been no of
ficial comment on it. Percy’s
office has called us for infor
mation and we’ve acknowl- # ,
edged that. But generally we
don’t take positions on legisla
tion at the federal or local
level. w x
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MONTEVIDEO (UPI) —
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pounds.
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