PAGf SIX Police Seek Esca Killer Doesn't Care Who His Victims Are State arid local police have ben warned to be on the look- out fw• t!scaped rr,iirderel The murderer is said to be very dangerous, but, to most of his victims. dc,esn't appear to be so. Pollee said the killer does not care who his victims are: ' old women, children, and even college students, Police could give -no exact identification except. to say that the killer is big and powerful and getting bigger and more powerful every year. Spots Care Death Told; Is Stressed I Most readers were probably 'startled somewhat when they Blidees and underpasses are , learned from the first sentence two of the most dangerous defy-:above that a murderer was on the ing spots in cold weather. says ; 10C;Se• Joseph Intorre. State College' But, you probably sighed a safety director. little relief when you caught on Intorre cautioned students go- that this killer isn't a human, Ing home for the Christmas vacs-: but an automobile. tion that, although good driving And that's the problem,safety, conditions are predicted, caution,experts will tell you. People just !don't realize the automobile should be exercised. that pride of Detroit—is a killer' Intorre, who is also associate . as d eadly as a l unat ic convict In charge of driver training at,with a .45 revolver. the University, said sometimes. a: And they admit it isn't fair to; highway is dry but bridges andi' underpasses are slippery sincei cold air under the structures pre- 1 vents drying. Drivers must also anticipate; coming upon shaded parts of a; highway that may be icy al-1 though the rest of the road has; dried, Intorre said. The safety director said all stu-; dents driving home for the Vaca-1 lion should have sand and a ; shovel in their car ia• case they' Should get stuck. - Intorre said also that students! should concentrate on getting; •home safely, rather than tryingi . to beat the time they made on! the last trip. • Be said drivers should take intol consideration the holiday traffic! which will crowd the highways! this weekend. Plenty of time: should be allowed for the trip' home, Intorre said. Intorre stressed to the driverl the responsibility not only for! himself and for other drivers but also for the passengers in his car. He said students should choose a driver with a good reputation and if none is available, public, , transportation should be used. Men-Women Death Rates' Approximately 4900 women drivers and 42.500 men drivers 'were involved in fatal accidents during 1956. Drivers in all accidents, accord ing to the National Safety Coun cil. were divided: 2,800,000 wo men and 14.900.000 men. THIS COULD have been your car. THE DAIIY COLIEGIAts: STATE COLLEGE PENNSYWANI The National Safety Council has predicted 180 persons will die on the nation's highways during the short Christmas per iod, according to the Associated Press. The council urged motorists to take extra caution in driving during the holidays. Besides poor driving conditions, the council noted that more motor ists who have been drinking will be on the highways. • The council asked motorists to make this "a safe and sane' Christmas by driving carefully. say that the automobile is the killer, just as it wouldn't be fair to say the .45 revolver is the killer when an escaped convict pulls the the trigger. However. safety experts, point out that motorists must realize that their vehicle can be an instrument of death before much headway can be made in cutting the number of deaths on today's highways. Some 40,000 Americans were killed and 1,500,000 were injured in streets and highways last year. At the rate motorists are going this year, the death toll is ex pected to reach 42,000. Included in the 40.000 deaths last year were two Penn State students who were killed on the way home for the Christmas vacation. Their convertible crashed into the rear of a tractor-trailer near the Reading-Lancaster Turnpike' Interchange just four days before Christmas. SCRAP METAL AND DEATH: This is thedeath car in which two Penn State students were killed last •ear on the way home for their Christmas vacation.- December Tops Other Months For Fatalities More highway accident deaths are recorded in December than any other month. National Safety Council figures for 1955 and 1956 show that, on the average, 4000 persons died on highways during December. October is second with 3918. The average monthly highway toll is 3292. Month-by-month records show January, 2810; February, 2319; March, 2602; April, 2753; May, 3101; June, 2982; July, 3350; Au gust, 3586; September, 3446; Oc tober, 3918; November, 3559; De cember, 4000. The most dangerous time of the day to drive is from 4 to 7:59 p.m., when 29 per cent pf all the acci dents and 25 per cent of the deaths occur on the highways. From 8 p.m. to 11:59 p.m. is the second most dangerous time per iod for driving. About 16 per cent iof all the accidents and 21 per cent of the fatalities occur during these hours. Other - 4-hour periods show: Midnight to 3:59 a.m., 9 per cent of all accidents and 17 per cent of all deaths; 4 a.m. to 7:59 a.m., 8 per cent of accidents and 9 Der cent of deaths, and noon to 3:59 17 per cent of accidents and 12 per cent of deaths. During each of the 4-hours per iods, except 4 to 8 p.m:, the per centage of deaths is approximate ly the same throughout the year. During 4 to 8 p.m., deaths varied from 21 per cent in May and June to 29 per cent in NoV'omber, De cember and January, which fur ther substantiates the fact that as darkness increases, so do deaths. d Murderer Editorial Opinion A Year Ago Tomorrow... Two Penn State students were killed a year ago to morrow as they sped home for their Christmas vacation. It was just four days before Christmas when their con vertible crashed into the rear of a tractor-trailer near the Reading-Lancaster Turnpike Intersection. Christmas is a time for happiness, for love, for all the pleasant things in life. It is not a time when we think of death: ` - Maybe this is the trouble. Maybe this is the reason why those two students met death last year. Most Penn Staters are anxious to get home, to be with their families at this traditional season. In fact, many have already left, cutting their classes. Therefore, they drive a little too fast for road condi tions. Or they think about what they are going to do when they get home instead of keeping their mind on their driving. . Driving is a full-time job. If a man is cutting a pattern on a power saw, he is etremely careful, for he may cut off a finger or two. He gives it his full attention. But for' some reason, many motorists don't take driving as if it is a full-tirae job. And instead of just losing a finger or two, you can lose your life and that of other persons too. If 40,Q00 Americans were killed in one catastrophe, the news would rock the nation. Yet, last year, 40,000 Ameri cans were killed and 1,500,000 were injured 'on streets and highways, according to National Safety Council figures. Double tragedy is added to this awful-toll when we realize that 35,200 of those 40,000 killed need not have died. A Kerripler Insurance study shows that 88 per cent of the people who died on the - highway in 1956 were killed in accidents involving people who disobeyed traffic laws. Make sure that tragedy does not come to your family this Christmas by remembering that driving is a full-time job and by obeying the traffic laws. YOU COULD have been a fatality in this car. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1957 ..t. • Inti 4
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