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HIGHWAY NEEDS OF THE NATIONAL DEFENSE
nated interstate system in a 1-year period, generally the calendar year 1947. The actual occurrence of fatal accidents was probably somewhat greater, because there are substantial parts of the urban system for which accident data were unobtainable.
For the 31,831-mile rural part of the system the report of accidents is believed to be substantially complete, and the reports indicate that
Photo by Oklahoma Highway Commission
The news story only tells how James Wallace was killed, not why. The approach road runs along the bank of the river on the far side, and swings sharply onto the narrow bridge. Improvement of the interstate system might prevent almost 1,200 accidents and save more than 1,400 lives each year, on the rural sections alone.
