WAITING FOR OR GETTING ON OR OFF STREET CARS - NO SAFETY ZONE 97 WAITING FOR OR GETTING ON OR OFF STREET CARS ON SAFETY ZONE CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT ACCIDENTS REDUCED BY SIGNAL SYSTEM A reduction in personal injury automobile accidents of almost 23 percent has been noted during the period of five months immediately following the installation of the central district signal lights, as compared with a similar period February 8 to July 8, 1925. There were 210 persons injured in the Loop in 1925, and only 162 in 1926. Not only has this signal system reduced the time of vehicles in crossing the Loop substantially, but this orderly speeding up of traffic has produced a saving in accidents. The largest reductions in numbers of accidents were noted on Randolph, Jackson, Wabash, Adams and Dearborn streets. Slight increases in accidents were noted on LaSalle, Wells, Van Buren, Monroe and Washington streets, as compared with 1925 records. This variation may be due to construction jobs and other local conditions. In both years approximately 90 percent of the victims of these personal injury automobile accidents were pedestrians. While this was to be expected, it indicates that the problem in the central district is chiefly one of proper relationship between the pedestrian and the motorist. The reduction in accidents may be attributed largely to better movement of the pedestrians, but there is still room for improvement in such control. Figure 35 shows the time of day when accidents occurred in 1925 and in 1926, the dotted curve representing the former period and the solid line those in 1926. Up to the hour of 6 p. m. the curves are seen to be somewhat similar, but in 1926 there is a conspicuous absence of any hump in the curve during the 5 o'clock rush, when Loop conditions are at their worst. HOURLY VARIATIONS IN TRAFFIC FLOW AND ACCIDENTS Figure 36 shows the traffic flow and the number of accidents for each hour from 7 a. m. to 11 p. m. inclusive, expressed in percentages of the total flow and the total number of accidents during that time. The striking characteristic of this chart is the relatively small number of accidents during the morning rush hours; the increasing accident percentages as the day goes on and motorists and pedestrians become more tired and less watchful; and the high percentage of accidents at the evening rush hour. The continuing high accident rates through the |