Safety On The Street (1966)

for for [Music] more and more people more and more machines all in a hurry going places signs signals directions and controls all designed to regulate the movement of people and machines to prevent accidents yet it isn't enough each year in the United States about 9,000 people are killed while walking on the streets and highways and many more are seriously injured of this number more than than 2500 are children under 14 years of age it's obvious that the signs signals and safe guards are not enough to prevent machines and people from getting in each other's way what's missing how can we find out let's begin by learning something about the driver's point of view this is what the world looks like to an automobile driver he can look to his right or to his left or to the rear with the aid of rear view mirrors every driver is on his way somewhere he usually drives as carefully as he can and habitually relies on signs and signals to tell him when to start stop or slow down he tends to think that other vehicles will be moving along much as he is and that pedestrians will be where they usually are on the sidewalks or in crosswalks if someone appears in an unexpected place it's likely to come as a surprise this street looks safe enough to a driver unless someone unexpected appears from here or here or here the driver saw them but just in time what about the people the driver can't see there could be this many people around a car and the driver wouldn't know it the corner posts of the car would prevent the driver from seeing anyone here or here when he's going forward or here here or here when he's backing up unless he happens to catch a glimpse of one of them in the outside rear view mirror neither will he be able to see this child in a wagon because the child is out of sight if you're in a position where you can't see the driver's eyes you know he can't see you and he can't react to you unless he does see you how soon does a driver need to see you if a girl half a block away does the unexpected on a quiet street with the car moving at 20 m per hour she'll be able to stop by the time she's here the average driver will be able to stop in about 47 ft by the time he's here so there won't be an accident however if the girl had been this much closer to the car when she ran out the driver wouldn't have been able to stop in time even at 20 if a similar thing happens on a main street with a car moving at 35 mph there may be an accident the boy will end up here and the car will take 110 to 120 ft to stop depending on how alert the driver is and how good his brakes [Music] are what do you think will result if the same sort of thing happens on a highway with a car moving at 50 mph the boy will not be able to stop until he's here the driver need 240 ft or more to stop won't be able to avoid hitting the boy the stopping distances we've talked about are what an average driver can do in an average car under ideal conditions but you can't always count on a driver being able to see so well or stop so well any sort of Street under any condition will be as safe as we make it or or is dangerous it all depends on our ability to size up a situation and to make a wise decision these children can't afford to be wrong about whether the oncoming car on a wet Street will be able to stop here or here so they make a wise decision and wait until the car has passed before they cross the street now let's take a look at some everyday traffic situations see if you can spot a dangerous decision as it is being made and make a safe decision instead what do you see here that seems unsafe is this a good place to stop and talk and is this a safe place to wait for the light to change you're right of course the boys can talk safely as long as they like on the sidewalk and the girls can wait safely on the curb for the light to change what do you see here does the girl have a choice about which side of the car she'll get out of yes she does she'll be wiser not to step out of the car into traffic the curb side is much safer did you see someone pass by let's see that again it's two boys walking toward us along the side of the road the driver can just barely see them if he's watching closely how can we avoid a dangerous situation like this here's how by carrying a flashlight and wearing light colored clothing and notice something else the boys are walking against traffic where they can see and be seen they'll get where they're going safely here's another case of choices a safe one or a dangerous one the boy is on his way to the sidewalk but has he chosen a safe route if he wants to reach the sidewalk safely he'd better walk down to the crosswalk make sure traffic has stopped at a red light and cross with ease what's dangerous here where should this boy cross the street you're right if you said at the corner in the crosswalk with a green light earlier we learned that besides signs signals and safeguards something else is needed to prevent accidents now we know that something else is our own ability to make safe decisions next time you're out on foot remember the man behind the wheel does not expect the unexpected [Music] a surprise like this could be fatal so when you're faced with a choice size up the situation use your own judgment and make a decision that will get you where you're going safely