Life, 1927-09-22 · page 6 of 40
Life — September 22, 1927 — page 6: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is **not satire or cartoon commentary** — it's an earnest **public safety advertisement** published by Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. The illustration shows a female safety instructor teaching a diverse group of children about street crossing safety, with traffic signals visible. The article advocates for organized "Safety Campaigns" to reduce accidental deaths, which claim one life every 13 seconds in America. It notes that cities with active safety education programs (like Albany) have reduced accident deaths by over half. The key message: accidents aren't inevitable; systematic public education by mayors, police, and civic organizations can prevent tragedies. This reflects early-20th-century Progressive Era thinking about using organized campaigns and public education to solve social problems.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
‘Town Safe $ could be prevented. One half of the children who are killed are the little untaught ones less than five years old. And accidents claim all too many per- sons past middle age—who have not adjusted themselves to the swift pace of passing vehicles. Is Your _" In cities where public caution and pro- tection are taught, the deathrate from accident is far less than the Nation's sad average. Modern scientific Safety Cam- paigns are organized in these cities. The Mayor, the Police Department, local associations, clubs, societies and citizens of ability and initiative are working to- s gether for safety in industry, in the home and on our streets. The newspapers which help to promote Safety Campaigns find a quick response. These continuous safety programs are as carefully and skilfully planned as a great battle, but with this difference— ] a battle is planned to end as many lives | as possible and a Safety Campaign is planned to save as many lives as possible. ? | No longer has one a right to say, “ Acci- dents are bound to happen. You can’t prevent them.” Today accident pre- vention is neither a beautiful dream nor | a vain hope. It is a splendid reality. In cities which have said, “It can be done” — it has been done. In some cities the deathrate from accident has been reduced more than These boys and girls are being taught to save their lives! They are learning the half, oy meaning of the “Stop” and "Go" traffic signals. In many schools the children i 7 own semaphores, and the teacher appoints different members of the Do you know how many 4 t the part of a Traffic Officer so that the lesson of caution at street people were killed by ace Crossings can never be forgotten, cident in your town last year? You will find, Eten five minutes someone dies beyond hope of prevention, The other again and again, that a from cancer. Every six minutes —swift annihilation that could have little forethought or a someone is killed by accident. been prevented. little more care would ] One death in every 13 is caused by cane Most fatal accidents need never happen; have avoided many trag- | cer—one in 15 by accident. One—a 90,000 a year in the United States—240 edies. Help to prevent tragedy foreseen weeks in advance when a day—deaths from various causes that such deaths. «——_—— — ——- he ———-— -—— 700, 000 Americans seriously injured last year; 23,000 killed entire city supported it, accidental deaths of all kinds were re- 1 | by one cause alone—motor vehicle accidents. duced 31%. Fatal accidents to children were reduced 33%5%. | Fatal accidents in homes were reduced 71 al caution have failed to stem the constantly ntal deaths. Last year the New York State Based on the results in A to conduct an ™ “* ewo booklets, “Promoting Community Traffic Problem”, which outline practical ways and means for ident prevention. Send for two copie) ach, one for sonal study and one to send to your Mayor. If your town ‘a working safety organization, support it whole-heartedly. A vigorous educational program was undertaken. Every stage If not, help to establish a local Safety Council. of this campaign was carefully mapped out in advance. During the first six months of the demonstration, while practically the HALEY FISKE, President. rising tide of conference of 3 Safety Campaign. the Metropolitan Life Insu: safety engineers to co-opera ny, the Metropolitan has prepared fety” and “The Published by METROPOLITAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY~NEW YORK Biggest in the World, More Assets, More Policyholders, More Insurance in force, More new Insurance each year comicbooks.com