UNNECESSARY ACCIDENTS

Conduct remains a personal matter only as long as individuals accept the responsibility which this concept involves. When any large group of them fail to understand, consciously or unconsciously, that they must avoid inflicting useless suffering on others, the matter concerns the community in which they live.

This is why driving is a community problem. Nine-tenths of the accidents on the road today could be avoided by observing a few simple rules. Unfortunately, drivers seldom realize the significance of these almost trite instructions until they crash.

Although this question has become a community concern, it will never be solved until each driver has learned to drive sanely. During the summer the article, "And Sudden Death" brought home clearly the realities of this situation. In August the Hartford-Times initiated a safety campaign which has spread to over a hundred newspapers. These are the community ways of impressing each individual with his own responsibility.

Today the Crimson enters the safety driving campaign. Many undergraduates have been seriously injured or killed in accidents during the last few years. Figures show that the percentage of fatalities among men of our age is greater than that of any other category.

We hope that every undergraduate will read the pledge. We hope that all who agree to its principles will sign it. But most important of all, we hope the campaign will promote an intelligent discussion of the problem of reckless driving.