Senator RIBICOFF. I want to thank you, gentlemen. I think that what GSA has done in setting its standards has been the most salutary step taken so far in this country to assure some additional safety features in automobiles. I would hope that you would continue your responsibility in the future as you have in the past. Thank you very much. The committee will stand in recess until Thursday at 9:30 a.m. (Whereupon, at 12:05 p.m., the subcommittee was recessed, to reconvene at 9:30 a.m., Thursday, March 25, 1965.) FEDERAL ROLE IN TRAFFIC SAFETY (Pursuant to S. Res. 56, 89th Cong.) THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 1965 U.S. SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE ON EXECUTIVE REORGANIZATION OF THE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS, Washington, D.C. The subcommittee met, pursuant to recess, at 9:30 a.m., in room 3302, New Senate Office Building, Senator Abraham Ribicoff (chairman) presiding. Present: Senators Ribicoff and Montoya. Also present: Jerome Sonosky, staff director; and Constance Greess, chief clerk. Senator RIBICOFF (presiding). The committee will be in order. These must be very happy days for you, Mr. Secretary, with education moving as it is, and medicare coming out in the type and size that it is. I share with you the joy that seems soon to be fulfilled by the Congress of the United States, and I take this opportunity publicly to commend you and the Department on the outstanding job you are doing in this important field. STATEMENT OF HON. ANTHONY J. CELEBREZZE, SECRETARY OF Secretary CELEBREZZE. Let's wait until the votes are counted. You may proceed as you wish, Mr. Secretary. Secretary CELEBREZZE. I have with me to my left Mr. Allen Pond, Assistant Surgeon General, Public Health Service, and to my right, Dr. Paul V. Joliet, Chief, Division of Accident Prevention, U.S. Public Health Service, under whose jurisdiction the program is. I am very pleased to come before this subcommitte today to present the view of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare on the growing and tragic problem of traffic deaths and injuries. I am grateful that this subcommittee is taking so strong an interest in this, and am pleased to be able to report what my Department has done and is doing to solve the problem, what it hopes to do, and what it would like to do. 213 This problem of death and injury from traffic accidents has claimed wide attention for over a decade. Mr. Chairman, I take some pride in the fact, that, as mayor of Cleveland, a few years ago I had the privilege of endorsing and fostering a cooperative agreement with the Public Health Service for a 1-year program which became widely known as Cleveland's "Blueprint for Life" campaign. This program which was designed to cut the toll of all types of accidents achieved the involvement of the total resources, public and private, of the entire Cleveland metropolitan area in a unified, all-out effort to reduce the number of accidental deaths and injuries. ENTIRE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND WELFARE INVOLVED IN TOLL OF TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS Since I have been in Washington, I have found that concern with the toll of traffic accidents involves virutally the entire Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. First of all, it is one of the great national problems in medicine and public health. Accidents are the first cause of death in age groups from 1 to 35 years, and the fourth cause of death across the board. Traffic accidents alone kill more young men from age 15 to 24 than any disease. Accident victims occupy more general hospital beds than heart disease and cancer patients combined. We estimate that 12 million persons are impaired as a result of traffic accidents. This is a significant factor in the concern and activity of the rehabilitation agencies of the Federal Government and each of the States. The loss of productive manpower and the increase of dependency directly associated with the effects of traffic accidents are significant factors in the efforts of the Social Security Administration and the Welfare Administration to meet the needs of the disabled. DHEW PRINCIPAL OPERATING PROGRAM IN PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE The Department's principal operating program for attacking the traffic accident problem is located in the Public Health Service. This is so because the Service, with its strong medical orientation, is uniquely qualified by training and experience to study the human factors involved in accident causations the element of the traffic problem which has always received more blame and less study than any other. The present Public Health Service program in accident prevention evolved to its present form over a period of 17 years. began in 1947 with the detail of one sanitary engineer to the University of Michigan to carry out pioneering work in home accident prevention with the Kellogg Foundation. It For several years the efforts of the Service in this field were concerned with gathering known data, conducting small-scale surveys, and exploring the interests of health departments in accidental injuries. In 1955 the Public Health Service made a new assessment of its responsibilities in accident prevention, and that year began its financial participation in the far-reaching automotive crash injury research conducted by the Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory. Two years later the Service shifted its accident prevention staff from environmental engineering to medical leadership, and by 1958 began in a modest way to respond to demands for program services in the area of traffic injury prevention. PROGRAM OF RESEARCH, CONSULTATION, TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, AND PRODUCTION OF EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS BY PHS In keeping with growing concern of State and local health departments for the mounting toll of motor vehicle deaths and injuries, the Public Health Service instituted a program of research, consultation, technical assistance, and the production of educational materials in this field. Since February 1961, accident prevention in the Public Health Service has enjoyed division status. NEED FOR GREATER RESEARCH AND APPLICATION In emphasing our concern with the human side of traffic accidents, I do not intend to minimize the need for greater research and application with respect to vehicles, highways, and other factors. We agree with most authorities that the causes of traffic accidents are very complex and that the prevention of traffic accidents will be equally complex. This means that the resources and skills of many organizations, within and outside the Federal Government, and a wide range of professional skills, must be brought to bear on the problem. COOPERATION AND SUPPORT FROM MANY SOURCES Throughout the Department's comparatively brief and modest work in the field of traffic accident prevention, we have enjoyed broad cooperation and support from many sources. We subscribe fully to the action program of the President's Committee for Traffic Safety, which provides sound leadership for a coordinated approach to the challenge of traffic safety. We have worked successfully and harmoniously with the other Federal agencies concerned with other aspects of the problem. We have collaborated with and stimulated new interest in accident prevention on the part of the health, safety, and motor vehicle authorities in the State and local governments. We have brought about more active participation by the organized health professions and medical research institutions, and have worked closely with the voluntary agencies concerned either with the prevention of traffic accidents or with their tragic results. DHEW CONTRIBUTIONS I believe that the Department has already made significant contributions and, perhaps more important, has indicated clearly that expansion of the study of the human factors will eventually lead to a marked impact on the toll of traffic tragedies. RESEARCH PROVED SEAT BELTS DECREASE DEATHS AND INJURIES Perhaps the most dramatic single contribution of the Department to the prevention of traffic deaths and injuries has been the support of research which conclusively proved that the universal use of seat |