Highway-railroad grade crossings such as the one at left were common hazards for automobile traffic up to the 1930’s.
A year of study by another committee of the second conference disclosed that ascertaining the causes of accidents was far more difficult than had once been supposed. It was not sufficient to ascribe most of the accident problem to human incompetence, carelessness and recklessness. Even if adequate accident records were available, this committee thought a sustained program of research by a central organization, national in scope, would be needed to get to the roots of the problem.[1]
The Conference agreed, and as a result of its recommendation, the Highway Research Board (HRB) organized a “Committee on Causes and Prevention of Highway Accidents,” in May 1927 to coordinate accident research nationwide.[N 1] The HRB played a major part in subsequent efforts to reduce the accident toll.
- ↑ The first act of the Committee was to request the BPR to compile an index of published articles on highway safety and the allied subjects of highway design, town planning and traffic control. The BPR librarians found that no fewer than 2,400 items on these subjects had appeared in American and European journals for the years 1923 to 1927—certain proof of the intense worldwide concern over the problem.[2]
The First Large Highway Safety Program
The Bureau of Public Roads and the State highway departments recognized that the obsolescence of the highway system was one of the contributing causes of the high accident toll, but they were not willing to accept all or even a very large part of the responsibility:
One matter that confronts highway officials which is of great present importance and which will be of much concern in the future is the eradication of those conditions that are now or may be conducive to accident, injury, and death. A prominent part of the effort to be made to correct conditions will be the elimination of highway-railroad grade crossings . . . The separation of opposing streams of traffic on the most heavily traveled highways seems also to be essential. The greatly increased speed of motor-vehicle travel requires a general increase in sight distances and the elimination of obstructions to view at intersections. Occasional sharp curves and steep grades on highways that, in general, invite the driver to speed must not be tolerated. Provision for pedestrian travel separate from that portion of the highway used by vehicles must be made wherever the amount of pedestrian travel justifies it.
