Page 2, Thursday, October 28th, 1971, WHITBY FREE PRESS $1 FROM A BIRD'S EYE VIEW JIM OUAl There are times when Iam thoroughly c o n v i n c ed we are progressing back- wards. Th e latest madness seems t o be to d e v el1 op a car that is ultra safe. It is built 1ike a Sherman tank, it has padded everything inside, and gauges and dials that practically shout at you. Why ? Acar is a collection of metals, fab- r ics and plastics. The car itself is n e i ther safe nor unsafe. The point everyb o d y s eems to be missing is the driver of the car is the factor that det- ermines safety. No m a t t er h o w indestructable you make the car, if you put an idiot behind. the wheel he will kill somebody. Instead o f spending millions of dol- i ars trying to make the CAR safer, let' s g e t down to the human factor and start rhaking the DRIVER safer. I see I iteral ly dozens of infractions of the Highway Traffic Act every day that could possibly cause an accident. Un- fortunately I also see dozens of people getting away with the infraction. Some drivers disobey purposely, but shock- i ng I y , many others really don't know better. I am amazed at the number of people who simply ignore that1i ttl e stick on the 1 e f t si de of t h e steering column. It's c al l e d a directional signal stick, and i t's used to inform the other driver which direction you intend to go. Tenyears ago this situation was not so grave. I can often remember people getting tickets when they deserved them, myself included. Today there simply aren't enough policemen toenforce the laws properly. So the responsibility is up to we, the motoring public. Thefirststep is to make it darn dif- f icu It to get a p erm it to drive. Many drivers don't understand how a car runs. That means they won't know how slow or how quickly it w i IlI respond in a given situation. Thismakes for an unsafe d r i v e r, not an unsafe car. After all, man is the thinking machine. The next step is for all drivers to start thinking of driving as a privelege and a responsibility, not as a right! I t 1's d e p ressing to know there are m o r e p e o ple killed in automobile ac- cidents than were killed in all the wars combined. T h e m o d e r n automobile was des- ignedtogetyou from one point to an- other. Some cars do itmore stylishly and lavi shly than others, but the reason forexistanceof thecarisstill the same. Some people can't get it through their heads that the car was not designed to be smashed up and batted about. And how about the seat belt? It was a built-in safety factor but the thinking machine, calledman, refuses to use the d e v i c e . The cars of 1971 have all the safety a good driver needs. What they don't have is safe drivers. Instead of flogging a dead horse and spending yet millions more on car saf- ety, let's spend it on campaigns to make the driver safer. If we all take the right a t t i t u d e I think we'll be surprised to findouthowmuchcheaper it will be than spending money to make the car safer. Never was the old saying more true, "Drive safely, the life you save may be mine." letters to the editor b-ox 206y whitby ....* . . . . . . . . . . . * ** ... Dear Sir, On H a I lowe'en, the ch il dren of Wh i tby w i 11be d o i n g very much more than just c o I I ecting treats for themselves: many of them will also be col lecting coins for UNICE F. L a s t y e ar our children collected $350, which hel- ped very consider- ably towards Can- a d a 's grand total of almost $700,0 00which was used tohelp children in need al i over the wor Id, wi th prog- rams of educat ion, health, welfare & nutrition. We very much hope that all your readers will help our children in this m os t w orthwhile endeavour. Not only do they have great fun at Hal lowe'en but they al so Iearn how they are helping chii dren i ike them- selves all over the worid, but in far less fortunate cir- cumstances. Th rough UNICE F. Hallowe'en has b e come a festival of sharing which, o f course, makes it doub1y worth- w h il1e . W e hope that everyone will have their coins ready to welcome UNICEF's y o u n g helpers when they cail. UNICEF is dependingon them, and they wiil depend on all ofus. Yours sincerely, Mrs. K. Schaaf, Secretary. THE WHITBY FREE PRESS (Voice ot the Coùnty Town) Hometown paper of Whilby, . Brooklin, Myrtle & Ashburn Published every Wednesday in and for the people of Whitby Offices- 301 Byron St. S. Whitby. Mail- Box 206, Whitby. 668-6111 Publisher - W. Bill' Durkee Editor- Judy Durkee Editorial Staff: J. Ouail Display- Tony Oomen -Chuck Marshall Circulation- Barry Schroeder Dear Editor, citizens ta remove Congra tulationsthe benches fro Conratlatonsthe south side of on your newspaper the Imperiai Bank. and especially on Thosepeoplesit one article and "Ed- there in the sun, i t or ial Comment."a It would be a dis- enjoying the outside grace and a disser- air andmeeting their v i ce tatur senior friends. The Whitby the bnche fro Garden Club did a splendid job in don- ating those benches for tha t purpose, and i have many tUim es walked by there and seen those people. There is al so a picture of our o I d Post Office, of which l1have very fond memories. When w e just came to\Whitby as immig- rants 18 years ago, I found this a lovely i ittie building and was very sorry when it w as demolished. We should preserve the oid historical places, and put the banks and other s q u are structures of steel and con- crete in other places where old stores are now, Then the fact that our Town Council would give $400 to the Curling Club for en te rtaining other clubs! This is not fair to man y citiz- ens. The Curling Club Members should raise the money themselves. They are mnostly we l-to-do people. Keep up the good work. Mrs. Mary Wolters, 1110 Centre St. Whitby. S., WE'RE ON OUR OWN The Whitby Free Press is now Whitby's only hometown newspaper. The Whitby World(1971)isno longer. During meetings held lastweekend, thepublish- ers of both newspapers agreed that the n e e d s of the community would be best served by one newspaper. As a result the Whitby Fr e e Press purchased the business operation rights of the Whitby World (1971) early this week. Nodoubt thiswill beawelcomechange to the many readers and advertisers who have been confused not only by the dif- ferent names of newspapers in this town, but al so by the numerous changes in staff and o w n e r s h i p that have taken place within the last year and a half. It is h o p e d t h a t th is most recent change w il I strengthen the position of this newspaper in Whitby and enable it to b e c o m e t he one true "Voice of the County Town". READEFIS WRÃTE.]