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Page fourteen The McHenry Plaindealer Parents Mus THERE just aren't enough regular policemen, members of • the school safety patrols and adult crossing guards combined, in any community anywhere, to insure , perfect protection against all of rthe traffic hazards that will be faced by children going; back to school this fall. •I Parents should recognize this simple fact and plan to act accord- > ftng, before school starts. i They should know above all that * Statistics reveal most accidents to > the very young occur the nearer (She children get to their homes Thursday, September 1,1955 SlOl and thef^fther they get from the screen of protection authorities, have developed for them. ' Beyond Protective Screen The simple truth of the matter is that despite all the indpctririation in traffic safety this generation of youngsters receive in their classrooms, an important share of the responsibility for their security pf life and limb shifts back to the shoulders of-4he parents themselves." . . Once beyond the protective screen the child is left pretty much on his own to play, run errands, or to lose himself in day dreams. Once beyond 7 the protective screen, especially during the shorter days of late fall and winter* the child moves through more hazardous twilight hours. Parents can assure greater satety for their youngsters under these conditions by setting a good example themselves: by . never crossing the street in the ^middle of the block, by pausing to look right and left, even after the light has turned green, before stepping off the curb--especially when the children are in their company. Parents of the very young will Jbe wise to walk to aind from school with their children occasionaly, to point out the danger spots, and to urge the right kind of caution. But this should be done inconspicuously to- avoid disturbing the youngster's^ self-confidence. Young Are Adventuresome Above . all, parents should be most meticulous ^bout observing all .traffic rules while driving as well' as while walking, when children are in their presence, because the boy .Who sees hlsddd break the regulations with impunity, is more likely to scorn those" set up for hif own safety. Young children are adventure* some from/their very nature. They frequently learn by experimenting, by taking chances, especially when they are away from supervision. 4 But experimenting with today's fraffic,'taking chances along the streets. . are things from whicb they must be dissuaded. * Parents must take over much of the responsibility for dissuading' especially when areas removed from the zones of > protection are involved. ^Mothers Contribute Anew to Traffic Safety for School Child Ettlisted To Aid Patrols And Police Many Cities 'Recruiting Crossing Guards from Young Matron Group 'TPHE newest worker recrultedjy !.& into the job of protecting children on their, way to and from .school is Mother. • Each year, more cities and towns tare adopting the idea of usinfe 4>oung matrons to supplement the safely work now being done by' tfthc regular police and the School (Safety Patrols--particularly the tibtter, as the ladies usually work JAirectly with the boys and girls of jfchc Patrols. |-/ As the new school year ap- •prosehes, the corps will be larger >lhan ever, and many communities tbll] be getting a first look at the (Smartly uniformed youhg mothers controlling traffic. j ; Not Enough Police r Corps of adult crossing guards, ;«s they are called in most places, 4>re not being organized because ••either of the other groups ismot doting a good job. Wherever there is a tgtoliceman on duty to help youngiWers across the street, there is litille likelihood of any sort of trouble. > The problem here is that there ijlttist aren't enough policemen to ttiovervall crossings where protector is needed. The School Safety Patrols do an Equally fine job. The American (Automobile Association, one of the fiioneers of the Patrol movement, reports that since the Patrols were «rganized abo\it thirty years ago (there has been a forty per cent reduction in the traffic death rate ftor 5 to 14 year old-groups--the «gc bracket the Patrols primarily protect--while the rate for all tothrr age groups has risen about ninety per cent. Y Teamwork Pays Off 1 ^Nevertheless, the assistance "of trained adults is sorely needed 4n •nany places. It has been a long standing rule that Patrol boys and »irl8 are not allowed to direct trhf- ;fk\ Their job is to hold other children on the sidewalk until it is safe tfor them to cross. As traffic conditions become heavier, it is increasingly difficult for a schoolboy iPntrolman to find sufficiently .large: gaps in the traffic flow to >se.nd schoolmates across busy streets. | Teamwork between the 4 Patrol -sentinels and adult crossing guards eliminates this problem. Trained ,i>y the police, the women guards fltoave the authority to stop vehicular traffic, even though few of ttoem have full police power. I The %)Aen's a,ut\»Qrtty to arrest; ^violators "of traffic laws Is limited tfjn most, places, but they all- have ifthe cltifen's right to report witnessing an offense to the police. PARTNERS IN THE BUSINESS OF PROTECTION for children going back to sehool are the^hundreds of thousands of boysand girls and the police officers who are training them for service with School Safety Patrols. In many cities, a4 third group, constituting corps.of Adult Crossing- Guards, recruited from among women, will be helping them, reports the Annerlean Automobile Association. SMARTLY SUITED are *he new Adult Crossing Guards enlisted now by many cities from'among young matrons, to supplement traffic safety efforts of regular police and School Patrols. And they are much admired in their new uniforms, by young-members of the patrols, many 6f whom are girls. 'Safely Factor' Now Built Into Wearing Apparel for School Wearing apparel with a built-in feature to help prevent dark-todusk traffic accidents is scheduled to be available for children in time for the 1,955 school season. The safety feature is made possible by perfection of a yarn called "Flecton" that is being woven into fabrics of which outer garments are made. The yarn instantly reflects the beam of an automobile headlight, alerting the driver to the presence of a child he might otherwise have difficulty seeing, yet it is not visible in ordinary daylight. The yarn is scheduled to be used in jackets, sports shirts, rain coals, hats, belts and snowsuits. The yarn was developed by the Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing company, after years of research. LOOK RIGHT AND LEFT School children should be taught that simple reliance on traffic signals is not enough. Caution them to look left and right before stepping 6ff the curb with the green light. YOU'LL BE <SEEING A- LOT of the warning poster-being -displayed above by its youthful, prize winning designer, GeneWilkerson, who graduated last semester from Baltimore's Mergenthaler Technical High School. It is being distributed by-the American Automobile Association to thousands of communities all over the United States to warn motorists to be on 4he alert for children crossing streets on their way to and' from-school. Jaycee Sponsored Car RoatUE-Os Give Teen Ager Chance to Prove His Skill Aimed at helping the ?oung to improve their skill as automobile drivers and also at dramatizing for parents the value of high school driver education courses, are the annual Teen-Age Road^E-Os conducted in more than 1,200 communities. The events, sponsored at the local level by chapters of the Jonior Chamber of Commerce and other-civic groups, are-now giving more than 250,000 youngsters a chance to demonstrate what they have learned about safe driving. Performance tests as well as written and oral examinations are part of the program. The youngsters cftjppeteialso at stale.and national' levels, with $3,000 in scholarships i awarded in the national finals. - The Road-E-Os are patterned after the National Truck. Road^ErQ conducted by the American Trucking Association. They call for skillful handling of an automobile, a thorough knowledge of good and safe driving practices, and mature judgment. Participation in the Teen Age Road-E-Os is-open only to those who have a driver's license or a learner's permit, and have not yet reached the age of twenty. Final qualification is that they must not have been convictedrof a "moving" traffic violation for the .past six months. Driving Course In High School Brings Pay-Off Educated ^Motorists Now Get Insurance At v Lower Rates One-Jhird of a million boys aftdf girls will get complete driver education courses in high school during the: coming school year, tPfe American Automobile Association estimates, and officials of the na< tional motoring organization are ready to prove that driver education is one of the most practical courses these youngsters can get. Andrew J. Sordoni, President of the .AAA, explains that the primary purpose of driver education in high schools is to make better and safer drivers of young people.' "A very important by-product of turning out safer drivers," Mr. Sordoni added, "is actual dollars and cents savings." ' ^ Cash savings to graduates of approved high school driver education courses come in the form of reduced insurance premiums. For several years, a few insurance companies have been giving low^er rates to drivers under 25 years old, if they have had a complete coursj^ one that includes both classroom instruction and behind-the-wheel practice. Ten Percent Reduction This year, however, the lowel rates can be had by, students in nearly every state, as the National Bureau of Casualty Underwriters announced that a general reduction of ten percent would be' given to anyone who had a course \ consisting of thirty hours of classroom instruction and six hours actual driving practice with . an instructor. 4 The AAA has expected • such action from insurance companies for some time now, because analyses of all known studies made of just how much -'better the trained driver is than a boy or girl who simply "picksup" driving know-how, prove that the former are better and twice as safe--i.e.. they are involved in about half as many accidents and have half as many violations of traffic laws charged against them. i' The cost of teaching a high school student to drive--with emphasis on sportsmanship and the rights of other road users--is not high. Costs $30 Per-Student The national average is only around $30 per student. In most instances, the ears used for practice driving are loaned by local autuomobile dealers. | The total cost of teaching this year's crop of driver education students will be' around oi* million dollars. But the AAA estimates that the savings on property .damagealone, that will result from students trained in other years having fewer accidents, will amount to upwards ..of $50,000,000 'during the coming year.