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Abstract
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One of the principles of Democritus, a Greek philosopher who lived about 400 B.C., was to the effect that "nothing happens by chance-every occurrence has a cause from which it follows by necessity." This ancient principle is the philosophical basis for all our present day efforts to curb the mounting traffic accident rate. Selective enforcement, driver education, and highway engineering have focused attention on accident causes with the aim of their ultimate elimination. Although some prog- ress has been made along these lines, we are still confronted with accident rates of enormous proportions.
Those who have worked in the enforcement, education, and engineering phases of the traffic problem believe that if accident causes are eliminated, both accidents and injuries will cease. This is quite obviously true, but taking into account the limitations of human beings and the man-made machines in which they travel at tremendous velocities, it is doubtful if we will ever be able to eliminate all accident causes. The records clearly indicate that the time has come when we must augment present efforts with other possible remedies.
The purpose of this paper is to point out one possible new approach to the traffic accident problem. More specifically, it is hoped that this paper will stimulate interest in a much neglected aspect of traffic collisions, namely, injury cause. It is quite apparent that all the efforts of enforcement, education, and engineering throughout the years have been concentrated almost exclusively on accident cause. Little or no attention has been given to why people are injured in collisions....
It is imperative that careful consideration be given to the elimination of injury and death causes if we expect to achieve any substantial safety improvement on the highways. It is clear that selective enforcement, driver education, and highway engineering cannot alone accomplish the desired results. This new study of injury and death causes should be the subject of well planned research programs. Experimental crash studies should be made and new designs should take into account those factors which will tend to minimize injuries and deaths. Sales and advertising programs should be at least partially predicated upon true safety improvements-rather than on trivialities amplified by high powered language. The desirability of using safety belts in cars should not be kept a secret from the public. In all these things the automotive manufacturers must take the lead-they must not expect these improve- ments to come only as a response to public demand or poorly conceived legislation.
Available:
http://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/jclc/vol43/iss4/12
Language: en |