o
ByC ttBDTOED (OREGON) MAIL TRIBUNE
Monday, Ftbruarf 23, 1957
Cornell Researchers Study Causes of
Injury, Death in Automobile Crashes
Fdilor't note: Thlf It the flrU in ft
srlt of five mrliAts on auto arri
dnt. safety and prevention. Writ
er Robert Serltng did renearrn work
In New YorlL and Washington in
preparing the leriei.
By ROBERT SERLING
Unilod Preit Correspondent
New York UR At 12:02
m... Oct. 18, 1956, a 49-year-old
Virginia farmer became a corpse
in a county morgue and a statis
tic in the nation's traffic toll.
He died when hjs 1952 four
door sedan hit a telephone pole.
The accident was typical of a
lot of others. But the way it was
investigated was different.
About four days later, a large
envelope was delivered to 316 E.
61st St., New York City, address
ed to the division of automotive
crash injury research, Cornell
University Medical College. It
was signed by a Virginia state
policeman. It told simply and
graphically how the man died.
The contents included six
photographs of the death car,
two interior, three exterior and
a closeup of the dead driver.
Also supplied were road condi
tions, make and body style of
the car, a complete description
of damage to the vehicle, wheth
eiddoors opened on impact, and
a detailed report from the doc
tor who examined the victim.
Each description of injury was
accompanied by a report on how
it was sustained.
Item:
"Crushed chest from contact
with steering wheel hub after
collapse of spokes and lower
rim."
"There was a four inch lacera
tion of forehead of victim caused
by contact with flying wind
shield glass."
"Abrasions on left leg from
contact with emergency brake
handle." .
"Large puncture in the right
leg, like a gunshot wound, from
contact with control dial on car
radio."
All these items were fed into
humming statistical machines.
The grisly details of a human
tragedy became impersonal per
forations in little cards, to be,j
studied by the project's experts.
Since -1953, the auto crash in
jury research program has com
piled such studies of more than
8,000 accidents, most of which
involved injury or death. It is
the only program of its kind, on
such a large scale, in the United
States.
Help From 12 Stales ,
The sources are state police
accident investigators and doc
tors in North Carolina, Virginia,
Maryland, Indiana, Connecticut,
Minnesota. Arizona. Texas. Ver
mont, California, Pennsylvania
and New York, plus the city of
Minneapolis, Minn. They send in
their reports on . special forms
supplied by the project.
From the data collected
I these 8,000 accidents, Cornell re-
! searchers have learned that:
Your chances of getting badly
hurt or killed are greater if you
are thrown out of a car than if
you stay inside.
The modern automobile is a
reasonably strong container for
its human occupants; most in
juries or deaths are caused by
the occupants getting tossed
around inside or hurled com
pletely out of the container. ,
Conclusion
The Cornell research is not
concerned with what causes an
accident. Its emphasis is on the
accident itself and how its in
jury producing effects can be
lessened. Here 'are some of their
conclusions:
1. A seat belt, because it helps
prevent both ejection from a car
and violent movement within a
car, can save lives and reduce
the frequency and severity of
injury.
2. Safety door locks, when, en
gaged, will prevent doors from
opening in crashes and will
greatly reduce Injuries.
Both seat belts and safety
locks were introduced in the
automobile industry in 1956. The
project has been putting -special
emphasis on accidents involving
1956 and '57 cars equipped with
these features, comparing them
with similar crashes of cars with
out belts or safety locks.
Compiling Other Data
"We try," says technical super
visor Boris Tourin, "to compare
accidents of equal intensity oc
curring under almost identical
conditions, items as safety belts
and door locks."
The project also is compiling
data on recessed steering wheels,
and padded instrument panels
and sunvisors. It is just begin
ning to delve into a contro
versial topic involving automo
bile structural design whether
the so-called "hardtop" styling
is as safe as conventional two
and four-door sedans. '-
In tomorrow's article, Serling
discusses safety door locks and
seat belts.
There are more than 2,000
varities of tulips, according to
Dutch experts. Approximately
98 per cent of these spring-
blooming flower bulbs come
from Holland.
Union Financial
Records Missing
Washington (U.R) Robert F.
Kennedy, counsel for the Senate
Labor Racketeering committee
discosed Friday that financial
records of the Teamsters Union
are missing from files of the
union's Portland office.
The asseration by Kennedy
came on the heels of- a warning
that a year in jail may await
anyone who destroys union rec
ords which the Senate commit
tee has subpoenaed.
Earlier Kennedy and Commit
tee Chairman Sen. John L. Mc
Clellan said that financial rec
ords of deals between Teamster
Union President Dave Beck and
one of his top lieutenants were
missing1 and apparently destroy
ed. McClellan said some records
which the committee wanted
have vanished from the files of
the Western Conference of
Teamsters in Seattle.
.A union attorney in Chicago
answered that they had been
inadvertently destroyed when
the basement of the union head
quarters was being cleaned out.
AN OSCAR CANDIDATE? '
Hollywood U.R) "Jasper"
was the most difficult actor to
film when his scenes in "The
Spirit of St. Louis" were made.
He required 4,200 stand-ins,
some of whom gave their lives
on the job. Jasper" is the hitch
hiking horse fly which accom
panied Lindberg on part of his
historic flight.
Four Bodies Found
In Plane Wreckage
Seoul U.P.) Four more
bodies were recovered today
irom the wreckage of a crashed
U. S. Air Force C124 Globe
master, bringing the official
death toll to nine- in Friday's
crash.
Thirteen persons still were
missing and presumed dead for
a total of 22 dead and missing.
The huge plane crashed Fri
day night on a Han river sand
bar with 159 passengers and
crewmen aboard. Two of the 137
survivors were taken of the criti
cal list today at the 121st Evacu
ation hospital.-The others escap
ed with minor injuries.
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