Perhaps they should be renewed. The occupation groups which comprise the most workers have the most accidents, so no rathes would be implied; that is an area for research, not traffic statistics.

How are mass statistics used at State and local levels? One simple example illustrates this. It was formerly common to blame accidents on nonresident or out-of-State drivers. Mass statistics showed that more than 90 percent of the drivers had their accidents within 25 miles of their place of residence. Preventive efforts were then redirected to local people.

10. Types of roadway and environmental failures.-Moynihan concedes that on this subject no national statistics are needed. It is primarily a local problem, and local highway departments have the records they need. The book "Traffic Control and Roadway Elements" (Automotive Safety Foundation) contains much valuable data.

In his oral testimony, Mr. Moynihan said, "Today there are probably two and a quarter million truck and delivery drivers alone. The fact is that probably the single largest discrete cause of occupational accidents today is automobile accidents. I think that is the case we don't have any statistics on the subject so we really can't say with any certainty."

For years, the National Safety Council has reported just such figures in Accident Facts, based on reports from State labor departments (app. 8a, p. 31). The information not only shows the relative frequency of injuries in total, but also shows this data for fatalities, permanent injuries, and temporary injuries separately.

As then Assistant Secretary of Labor, it is surprising that he was not familiar with a publication of his own Department which shows injury rates for such categories of truck and delivery drivers as "Motor freight transportation," and "Trucking, local and long distance."

Some State labor department figures show voluminous details relating to vehicle collisions, such as rear end, head on, etc., and injuries in such noncollision accidents as sudden stops or starts, jackknifing, load shifting, etc. Many more details are summarized in Accident Facts (p. 32).

After all this discussion, it still appears that the work of the traffic accident data project is the most significant plan to improve records and statistics. The urgency of records improvement is apparent as the accident problem more and more gets the attention it deserves.

EXHIBIT 93

STATISTICS COLLECTION

In response to the question regarding the Census Bureau's ability to collect information and compile death rates, this probably could be done by the Census Bureau, although this Bureau is not collecting any motor vehicle statistics, or other mortality or morbidity.

The National Vital Statistics Division of the National Center for Health Statistics tabulates certain information on motor vehicle deaths from death certificates, but even this agency has no facilities uniquely suitable for compiling and publishing death rates, especially on a current basis. To have maximum usefulness, such rates must be determined and made available promptly, as is now done by the National Safety Council. NVSD could do this, but it would not be a byproduct of their present activities. Death certificates which NVSD collects could not be used for this purpose because there is no urgency in reporting or compiling such data. (Death totals from death certificates are not available until nearly a year after the end of the year in which the deaths occurred.)

To report monthly traffic deaths on a current basis as is now being done by the National Safety Council, NVSD would have to set up a new and special service, presumably relying on the same State authorities who now report to NSC.

NVSD is uniquely qualified to compile certain additional information regarding motor vehicle deaths from data on the death certificates, but such special tabulations were discontinued in 1949 despite pleas by the council and motor vehicle officials to have the tabulations continued. These special tabulations covered such categories as day of month of accident, hour of accident, duration of

injury, some details of urban-rural occurrence, etc. Such data, no longer tabulated nationally, provided valuable clues for delineating certain important aspects of the accident problem. The death certificates, however, cannot provide data on highway or vehicle characteristics.

Senator RIBICOFF. Unfortunately, the bell is about to ring which means under the rules of the Senate, that we have to stop at 10 o'clock. I do want to thank you, Mr. Pyle, and your assistants for coming here. My feeling is that we are making progress.

The President of the United States has seen fit to recognize the problem and will soon set up a national highway safety program of his own, which is more than welcome.

My feeling is that the breakthrough that this committee has brought forth will lead to Federal legislation of a very substantial nature; that, basically, to make this legislation effective and meaningful, we will definitely need the cooperation of your organization.

I certainly appreciate your comments that whatever is devised or brought forth by the Congress of the United States or that comes out of this committee will have your cooperation.

Thank you very much for coming.

Mr. PYLE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

(Thereupon, the hearing was adjourned at 10 a.m. to reconvene on Thursday, February 2, 1966, at 8:30 a.m.)

EXHIBIT 94

STATEMENT OF ERLE COCKE, JR., FOR SAFETY SYSTEMS, INC.

Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee, I am Erle Cocke, Jr. I appear here as vice president of Safety Systems, Inc. We have patented an automatic safety belt adaptable to vehicles and airplanes that will enforce the use of seat belts. It will alert the individual with a buzzer. Mr. Boblitz is here with me and we both will be glad to answer questions after I read the following statement.

We are not here to:

(1) Campaign for a definite overall national policy for traffic safety. (2) Rail against the automobile manufacturers. We believe they have done and are performing an excellent function.

We

(3) Plead for more appropriations for research and development. believe the profit incentive and the competitive forces of the marketplace will continue to lead the way to safer motor vehicles, safer highways, and safer driving.

What we are here for is to discuss the safety systems device for making sure seat belts are used.

1. Safety devices must be made automatic and foolproof; they must be made a part of the vehicle

As H. E. Chesebrough, vice president, product planning and development, Chrysler Corp. said: "Some safety features have obstacles to their acceptance *** in that they may require active cooperation * * * by the user * ** these factors serve initially as a barrier to immediate public acceptance of a new safety feature * * *” (p. 822, hearings). And as Frederic G. Donner, chairman of the board, General Motors Corp. said: "Some things must be built into the motorcars because they are essential to its operation *** when seat belts were made standard equipment * * * installation rose to 95 percent ***"

"Senator RIBICOFF*** It is my impression that the most important safety features in automobiles are engineered right into the vehicle itself.

"Mr. DONNER. That is correct * * *. They well be part of the car" (pp. 675, 676, hearings).

2. Seat belts-the safety device which holds the immediate promise of saving the greatest number of lives—can be made automatic and foolproof Again, as Mr. Chesebrough testified: "For example, in 1961 Chrysler Corp. became so convinced of the value of seat belts that it made them available to dealers on a nonprofit basis. We also recommended that our dealers as a public service offer the belts on a nonprofit basis with only a nominal charge added for installation. We took this action because it had been proved conclusively that seat belts can save lives, and can reduce the seriousness of injuries" (p. 818, hearings).

The American motoring public has a distinct aversion against the voluntary use of safety seat belts. Although various safety-minded organizations have been influential in having the Federal Government as well as State legislatures enact laws which require installation of seat belts in motor vehicles, there has, to date, been no followup on this by enforcing the use of seat belts. Safety systems has conducted a number of statistical surveys to determine the percentage of motorists actually using seat belts installed in automobiles. These studies have revealed that less than 15 percent and, generally less than 10 percent, of the seat belts installed in automobiles are actually used by the motorists and passengers riding in these vehicles. In other words, 85 to 95 percent of the seat belt equipment contained in automobiles goes unused while the occupants of the motor vehicles continue to ignore the added margin of safety which "proper use" of the seat belt equipment would afford.

It must be emphasized that a seat belt must be "properly used" if it is to provide the measure of safety to the occupant of a motor vehicle. Merely buckling the seat belt about the vehicle passenger is not adequate. A safety seat belt which is not snug around the pelvis of the passenger may cause serious injury to the passenger upon collision. In an address in Atlantic City, Dr. Elliott S. Hurwitt of Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City reported that there have been numerous belt-related injuries to passengers of motor vehicles due to leaving a seat belt loosely adjusted rather than having it "snug." Ruptured spleens have been frequently incurred by automobile passengers who have merely buckled a belt across their lap but have failed to pull the belt snug across the pelvis.

The requirement for a seat belt to be "snug around the pelvis" in order for it to be used properly is emphasized in a number of pronouncements by safety organizations. For example, the Washington Post for Sunday, January 30, 1966, reports statements to this effect by the auto industries highway safety committee. The article contains the following statement:

"Maximum seat-belt protection is obtained when the belt is snug around the pelvis, says the AIHSC. Seat belts with retractors should have no slack left on the reel after the belt is fastened."

If all of the seat belts which have been forced to be installed in motor vehicles by legislation feat are to serve a useful purpose, there must eventually be some way to enforce their use and this in a "proper manner." The proper fastening of a seat belt requires that it be "snug" and this will necessitate eventually the setting of some standards which may be used as a guide to signify to passengers of motor vehicles that they have their seat belts "properly fastened." A "snugness" standard will specify a tension in pounds or ounces, or a permissible amount of slack in inches, or both. To supplement this, there must be provided some device which will automatically signify to the passenger of the automobile that there is such "snugness" of this seat belt. Without this, the present seat belt program of enforced installation of equipment might as well be abandoned. It has been definitely proved that attempted "education" of the motoring public alone is useless. Even if educational programs were able to get a majority of automobile passengers to fasten their seat belts, there would remain the equally serious problem of getting a large percentage of such people to fasten the belt with the correct "snugness" to obtain adequate protection from the belt and prevent ruptured spleens and similar internal injuries of the type that are being experienced today by a portion of the small percentage of automobile passengers who are buckling seat belts about them.

The safety systems device provides a safety seat belt which not only automatically signifies to passengers of automobiles that their seat belts are fastened but also that they are "properly fastened," i.e., that the seat belt has been drawn across the pelvis with a proper degree of snugness for maximum protection. This new device permits functional operation of the seat belts by

allowing the passenger to move to a limited extent without "triggering" the signal device control circuit. The seat belt device may also provide for the indication of such fastening to law enforcement personnel.

3. The safety systems device can be installed in all existing cars as well as in all new cars to be manufaceured and can be incorporated into and used with existing seat belts

This feature in making the use of all present seat belt installations a "part of the car" will salvage the expense of the existing installations and for the first time make them serve the purpose for which they were intended—to save lives and reduce the seriousness of injuries.

4. The Federal Government can lead the way by causing the Administrator of General Services to direct the installation of the safety system device on all existing motor vehicles owned by the Federal Government and by requiring the installation of the safety systems device in all motor vehicles to be acquired by purchase by the Federal Government in the future

Public Law 88-515, approved August 30, 1964, provides: "No motor vehicle manufactured on and after the effective date of this section shall be acquired by purchase by the Federal Government for use by the Federal Government unless such motor vehicle is equipped with such reasonable passenger safety devices as the Administrator of General Services shall require * * *.

We recognize the immense problem of Federal-State relations in connection with the overlappings, conflicting, and lacking traffic safety regulations; but here, we believe, is an existing avenue for the Federal Government to lead the advance to an immediate savings of lives and reduction of the seriousness of injuries-simply by causing the Administrator to require the safety systems device in all Federal Government motor vehicles. If this is done, deaths in motor vehicle accidents will be reduced by more than one-third and the severity of injuries greatly decreased.

Doctors Paul W. Gikas and Donald F. Huelke in their article in the Journal of the Michigan State Medical Society (vol. 63, pp. 351-354; May 1964) find: "When the criteria are applied to all the victims, whether they were killed by a secondary collision within their car or whether they were ejected, it was found that a minimum of 34 percent of these victims would have survived if the lap-type seat belt had been used. The figure of 34 percent survival with a lap-type seat belt compares favorably with the results of a study by Tourin and Garret in 1960, utilizing data collected by the California Highway Patrol. Their study showed that the user of the seat belt could be expectd to reduce the incident of major-to-fatal grades of injury by approximately 35 percent. An additional 11 percent of all fatalities in our study would have survived with a shoulder strap-seat belt combination."

SUMMARY

If we permit the present rate of traffic accidents to continue, at least one out of every two living Americans will be killed or seriously injured in a traffic accident. Yet, almost everyone knowledgeable in the traffic safety field agrees that a seat belt, if "properly used," would reduce traffic deaths by over one-third and would reduce serious traffic injuries by approximately 50 percent. Specifically, last year over 12,500 deaths and about 2 million serious injuries could have been prevented by seat belts, if "properly used."

It is true that seat belts are installed in about 40 million cars and between 8 to 10 million will be installed in new cars during 1966. But, the advantages of seat belts have not been realized. Instead, 1965 was the worst year we ever had for death and injuries due to traffic accidents.

Can this be explained?—Yes, it is simply because seat belts are not being used and because seat belts are not being "properly used." There never has been and there is not now much interest on the part of the motoring public in the voluntary use of seat belts. Safety devices which do not require voluntary cooperation are more effective than those which require it. For instance, when statistical studies showed the number of persons being killed and injured by broken window glass in traffic accidents, safety glass was developed and put into universal use. This safety device does not require voluntary cooperation. It is part of the car. It is automatic and foolproof.

So the questions arise-can the use of seat belts be made "automatic and foolproof" and can the "proper use" of seat belts be made "automatic and foolproof." The answer to both questions is "Yes." The safety systems seat belt device makes sure the seat belt for each passenger is being used and is being "properly used" or the warning system automatically alerts the driver and continues to alert the driver until the seat belt of the driver and of each passenger is being used and is being "properly used."

Why the emphasis on “proper use?”—Because, it has been proven that a loose seat belt is of little or no value in restraining the passenger when the car comes to a sudden stop; but instead, in some cases, a loose seat belt can itself cause internal injuries in addition to the probability of the passenger being thrown against the interior of the car and thereby causing death or serious injuries. Indeed, it is this "second collision"-the passenger being thrown against the interior of the car-which is the cause of the death or injury and which can be prevented or minimized by the "proper use" of seat belts.

Safety systems seat belt device automatically guarantees that seat belts are fastened and snugged and kept snug.

When and how is a seat belt "properly used?"—A seat belt must be fastened snugly around the pelvis of each person in any car before it starts moving. There is no way to tell when a car must slow down quickly or stop suddenlywhether it is going half a city block or 100 miles. The act of simply connecting two seat belt straps together does not constitute the "proper use" of a seat belt. Seat belts must be fastened and "snugged" at all times to insure the protective value brought about by holding the person firmly in the seat.

Can the safety system seat belt device be used with existing seat belts or only installed on new cars?-It can be used with existing seat belts, which can be incorporated into and made a part of the safety systems seat belt device and their use will then be "automatic and foolproof" and, for the first time, their owner can be sure they are being used and are being "properly used."

Can the Federal Government lead the way for the immediate use of the safety systems device?—Yes, the Administrator of General Services may require the safety systems device on all Federal Government motor vehicles within the framework of existing statutes. He only needs the findings of this committee to convince him of the desirability of so requiring.

Then, the Federal Government's use of the safety systems seat belt device will reverse the small percentage of usage of seat belts today and by automatically guaranteeing the use and the "proper use" of seat belts save lives and prevent injuries now.