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gelety ln htghway<br />
'fhe<br />
marklng. sreat<br />
burden of testlnlony wss directed At the<br />
vehicle, but tlle 16g616 shows that a lnlge<br />
lturnbcr of accldent$ al'e the Icsu-l! of ltr-<br />
Bdequate mBrkings otl our hlghwayE.<br />
Orle $urvey ln Icwa lndicat€s tlrat thet'e<br />
was a 63-percent reductioll of accldents<br />
bectrEe of markings {rnd trBfdc glSns on<br />
certaln Etretches of highways, Bnd cert8in<br />
dellneators nlong the roadslde ln<br />
Mlchlgan on two test locEtlons reduced<br />
nlght eccldents by ?8 percent <strong>and</strong> 39 ll€rcenl<br />
r'espectlvely. In VirginlE the reductloll<br />
wAs 5? end 6? percent lu two tests.<br />
F,lght-&gle yleld $lgns reduced Eccldents<br />
by 62 percent ln 9?9 loce.tlonE. we Elso<br />
tlnd that on the rurel roEdc there are<br />
164.8 accident$ per 100 hllllon miles of<br />
trtrvel. on prlluBry road$, the nmb€r<br />
l$ S0.{, but on secondary roadg lt ls I64.8.<br />
IlI other wolds, there is A ? to I rEtlo On<br />
trrcndary road$. fn the other part of<br />
the bill lt ls my underst4ndlnq that there<br />
will be some language whtcir wlll deal<br />
wlth hlghway marklngs. Thls k lfirport8nt,<br />
<strong>and</strong> I hope that tr llttle couoqw<br />
wlll take pltrce on the floor relettve to<br />
these me.tters when we dlsu$s th8t porttotr<br />
of the btll, because lt ts mo8t lmportant.<br />
Mr. EPEINGER. Mr. ChalrmEn. r<br />
yleld 5 mlnute$ to the gentlernan from<br />
ohlo IMr. DEvrNEl.<br />
Mr. KOFNEGAY. Mr. Chelmsn, wlll<br />
thc gentlemilh yleld to me?<br />
Mr. DEVINE. I ylekl to the Eentlem4n.<br />
Mr. KORNEGAY. Mr. C.h8lrmEn. f<br />
rlse in support of H.R. 13229. r oomend<br />
my chalrman, tlre gentlemBn from West<br />
Vlrglnis, <strong>and</strong> my colleB8ue8 on the coffimittee<br />
for thelr dedlcat€d efiorts ln wrtt-<br />
Ing thls bill now before us, tlre Nstlonal<br />
TrEfnc snd Motor Vehlcle aafety Act ot<br />
t90s.<br />
I thlnk the blll we Ere debsflng lr e<br />
oltrllt to the ttlemb€r8 of the Comrhtttee<br />
on lnterstate <strong>and</strong> Forelgn Comrnerdc.<br />
Tlle commlttte worked longer 6,nd hsrdcr<br />
orr thls blll than any that hEs ccme before<br />
the cohmlttee since I was prlvuegeal to<br />
sit on thls colrtrnltte. pubuc heRrln8s<br />
werc held over B z-rnonth Feriod- Exterlsive<br />
tcstimony wrH hear.d from s<br />
vBriety end a number of lnt€rested wltnesses.<br />
Seventeen executive sesslons<br />
were held before the blll wES report€d<br />
unanlrnou$ly.<br />
Becau$e of the complexltleE lnvolved<br />
ln the problehs of trafrc <strong>and</strong> vehicle<br />
se.fety, every Espect touchlrrg on the<br />
many problelrrs sere nlcroscoplctlly ex*<br />
amlled. Tlris required E coL9tant process<br />
of revlsing <strong>and</strong> rewdting the orlsnal<br />
blll. T'hrou8h thc wor.k of mdny hundreds<br />
of mau-hours on the lrart of the<br />
committee <strong>and</strong> its stafr, we bring to you a<br />
blll which Is as Bood rs the collccilve<br />
minds of tho commlttee could make lt,<br />
It, tnfty not be l)crfect. but I contcltd it ls f<br />
gi8nt stelr fofwald irr the rlght directlon,<br />
a step that will, in my conEldered opinlon,<br />
go fsr toward atteckln8 the Befety problem.<br />
The problem faclng us ls rmmen6€.<br />
Over 50,000 persons wlll dle on our hlghways<br />
tlrls year as the result of tfafrc<br />
Over SB blllion ln property demsset \r'lll<br />
be sustnlned due to &utomoblle crs6he3.<br />
The legislatlon we Ere conslderlng today<br />
will not, of course, end the csrnage<br />
cornpletely, nor wlll lt mEke the Butomobilet<br />
or ttte hlghways completEly Bafe.<br />
But, lt wlll help.<br />
I sm Froud to h6ve b€€I s member of<br />
the comftlttee thflt rcported tht8 blU to<br />
you lor youf considelatton. I hope thEt<br />
you wlll ehare our l)rlde ln our vote for<br />
Its passage here.<br />
Mr. DEVnIE. Mr. Chslman. tt|e cartEge<br />
ln AEtln, Tex., a cow)16 of weka<br />
aE$, where the so-caUe(l student mounted<br />
the tower snal flreil on the psple below<br />
<strong>and</strong> kllled l5 or 30 lnnocent ctilzena<br />
brought forth B remark from one ot th6<br />
MehtErs of the other body ecro3s th6<br />
CEpttol to the efiect thet people Llll<br />
people; not gunsBnd notautomobues. It<br />
ts the fellow trhlnd the gun, or tn thla<br />
tesl8lgtlon, the wheel.<br />
Thls leBlsletlon wBs bfought rorward<br />
prlmerlly becaw Mr. Neder <strong>and</strong> othets<br />
msde publlc pronouncernents about certaln<br />
alleged facts ln the automoblle Industry.<br />
The record ls cleEr End thero<br />
Bre rlo me&ningful stEtlstlcs thet werd<br />
pfoduced. no stgtlstlcs were brought fqrfih<br />
ftom lny source nor hsve thero ben any<br />
reBu.lts of any studles whlch have been<br />
lne.de wlllch show what lrcrcentage ol<br />
the deEths or Eccldents were ca.u.ced aa<br />
tr dlrect re3ult of defectlvely menufactured<br />
vehlc)es, I thlnk Frobably ltle<br />
most 6tartllng $tEtl6tlcs whlch we heard<br />
E$ a re$ult of the wltne$ses who appeared<br />
before our Cornrnlttee (fi Interstate <strong>and</strong><br />
Forelgn Cortlmerce were thRt the uEa ol<br />
Elcohol wa8 Involved ln at lea.st 50 [r€rcent<br />
ol all tlre eccltlents whlch dld result<br />
In fatelltles. I ws B blt sururlmd to flnd<br />
Amerlcnn Motors, cenerBl Motort,<br />
chrysler, Ford <strong>and</strong> sll ot the reFre$ent&f<br />
tlves of these greBt mrtsrRtions gBye lr^<br />
the flrst week <strong>and</strong> dftided that the fft{<br />
enterprl8e Eystem could no longer solve<br />
the$ problelns <strong>and</strong> that they were turnlng<br />
to the Government not to $olve lt<br />
slone but to do tt on a cooper&tlve bssls.<br />
Thls lF certalnly b twlst. The testlmony<br />
Itfore our commltt€e had En adver8e<br />
e.frect on the economy of the NEtlon, becRu$e<br />
the publlc was slrooked lnto bellevlnH<br />
that these Ereat corporatlon$ weFe<br />
ffi&nufscturlng cRr$ wlthout regard to<br />
sefety. So, many people declded not to<br />
purchasd autofiroblles of the 1966 model<br />
because they were lulled lnfo a fAlse scilse<br />
of securlty h tnuevlns that our great<br />
Federal Govetnhent hsd Fut ils flnBer<br />
on the problem <strong>and</strong> that the manufacturers<br />
would strddenly ln 106? morlels,<br />
begln to rn8nufBcture only Eefe cBrs <strong>and</strong><br />
that no one wou.ld tr hurt or kllled ln<br />
the futurc.<br />
Mr- Chalrman, I Bm not a stranger ln<br />
the f,eld of leglslEtlng wlth regBrd to<br />
eutomoblle safety <strong>and</strong> that sort ol thlng.<br />
Flft€en year6 ago when I Eerued In tho<br />
Ohlo Leslslh.ture, I wa6 one of the cosDonsors<br />
of a salel,y hrstnctlon btll whlch<br />
pffied the houe <strong>and</strong> Dassed tJre $errate<br />
Bnd wB$ vetoed by the Governor but<br />
pEssed over hl6 veto ln the house. I ElBo<br />
sporbored leglslatlofl orderlng a msnde-<br />
I<br />
eccidenLs. M{"ru. thous<strong>and</strong>s of othere wlll<br />
suffer $evere <strong>and</strong> permflhent inJurlB.<br />
tory l0-de.y Jell sentence lar thos€ cohvlcted<br />
of drlvlng mder the Influenoa ot<br />
730 Vol.I