An Analysis of High Accident Rates

W ith the advent of the automobile as a mode of transportation late in the nineteenth century, a new phenomenon, the motor vehicle acci­ dent, appeared on the American scene. While the motor vehicle was in its early stages of development, the problem was not serious. How­ ever, as the volume of cars on the highways increased, the number of accidents increased also; the problem began to assume greater and greater proportions. Today many millions of accidents occur each year, resulting in nearly 40,000 deaths and costing the American econ­ omy more than $4 billion. Three elements contribute to automobile accidents; the driver, the vehicle, and the highway. Quite obviously, the highway engineer does not have complete control over the first two elements since driver characteristics are the result of individual characteristics and may be subject to change by education and enforcement, and vehicle character­ istics are primarily controlled by the automotive industry and public desire. The highways, however, are the responsibility of the members of the highway engineering profession, and it is also the responsibility of this group to make them as safe as possible for all drivers. In view of the ever increasing number of accidents on American highways, the highway engineer has many opportunities to contribute to safer highways. The year 1956, with the passage of the Interstate Highway Act, produced a concerted effort to build safety into highways; but the 41,000 miles comprising the Interstate Highway System is only slightly more than one per cent of all roads in the United States. Even after this vast system of superhighways is built, a large percentage of the re­ maining highways will be below acceptable standards. Because, in all probability, there will never be enough money to reconstruct all roads to modern standards, it is up to the highway engineer to make existing highways as safe as possible under prevailing conditions.