“Satan Drives with the Dare-Devil.” Alton Automobile Club ad, Alton Evening Telegraph, June 13, 1925.

ALTON - To “inspire young and old with the necessity of safety both for the driver and for the pedestrian,” the Alton Automobile Club declared June 14–20, 1925, “Safety Week.” While the official slogan, created by Wood River grade school student Eva Mueller and plastered on stickers and signs throughout the area, was “Caution Never Brings Regret,” the unofficial slogan printed in the Alton Evening Telegraph on June 13, 1925, was “Satan Drives with the Dare-Devil.”

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To kick off Safety Week, approximately 1,000 cars participated in the Safety Week parade on June 14. An automobile ferrying Eva Mueller and her parents led the procession. City officials from Alton, East Alton, Wood River and Hartford rode in the parade, and Alderman S.L. Moore, chairman of the Alton traffic committee, served as the grand marshal. “Nearly every automobile owner in Alton took part in the parade.” The procession started on College Avenue in front of Rock Spring Park, came downtown on Washington Avenue, and proceeded east along Broadway, making the trip through East Alton, Wood River and Hartford, along Broadway to the North Side, and through Elm Street back to the parade start. Cars carried safety banners and flags. Bands played, and parade organizers distributed hundreds of horns “which were blown vociferously” during the progression of the parade.

Local businesses posted Safety Week signs in their windows, pastors spoke about safety in their sermons, theaters showed special slides, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts passed out safety stickers and pledges, and 52 special traffic officers were appointed for one week only to report minor traffic violations such as speeding. Any offenders were reported to the police and warned not to repeat their offenses.

According to the organizers in a June 20 Alton Evening Telegraph article, “Safety Week in Alton was a success.” Speeding was the biggest issue, but no major accidents were reported during the week. One interesting part of the Safety Week campaign was the awarding of merit stars, “which were given to drivers whose specific actions called to the attention of the Safety committee showed in some form or another their interest in the work of furthering the safety first idea and putting it into practice.” The committee awarded a star to a driver who stopped his car to let a pedestrian cross a street after the pedestrian had been waiting in vain for five or ten minutes. A truck driver won a star for stopping his truck when he saw half a dozen children climbing on to take a ride. “Fearing that they would be shaken off with the jolting of the truck and be killed or injured, he went to the back of the truck, spoke kindly to the children, and gently lifted them off one by one, admonishing them not to hop trucks again.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control, “the reduction of the rate of death attributable to motor-vehicle crashes in the United States represents the successful public health response to a great technologic advance of the 20th century — the motorization of America.” Both the number of motor vehicles in the United States and the number of miles traveled in motor vehicles have ballooned in the last 100 years, from 22,346 vehicle miles traveled (VMT) in 1925 to 3,246,817 traveled in 2023, which is the most recent year available in the United States Department of Transportation Annual Report Tables. Despite this steep increase in motor-vehicle travel, the annual death rate has declined from 18 per 100 million VMT in 1925 to 1.26 per 100 million VMT in 2023. Advances in vehicle safety technology, laws prohibiting intoxicated driving, and the use of seat belts and child safety restraints have made cars much safer for drivers and for passengers.

Special thanks to George Fuller for research help with this week’s article.

Safety Week Proclamation, Alton Evening Telegraph, June 13, 1925.

Sources

“Auto Parade to Launch Safety Week Saturday.” Alton Evening Telegraph (Alton, IL), June 12, 1925.

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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Achievements in Public Health, 1900-1999 Motor-Vehicle Safety: A 20th Century Public Health Achievement.” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). May 14, 1999/ 48(18);369-374.https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm4818a1.htm

“Miss Mueller Complimented.” Alton Evening Telegraph (Alton, IL), June 20, 1925.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. “Traffic Safety Facts Annual Report Tables.” United States Department of Transportation, May 2025.https://cdan.dot.gov/tsftables/tsfar.htm

“Observance of Safety Week to be General.” Alton Evening Telegraph (Alton, IL), June 9, 1925.

“Prize of Ten Dollars Given for Best Slogan.” Alton Evening Telegraph (Alton, IL), June 1, 1925.

“Safety Parade With 1000 Cars Next Saturday.” Alton Evening Telegraph (Alton, IL), June 8, 1925.

“‘Safety Week’ Launched Here; Autos Parade.” Alton Evening Telegraph (Alton, IL), June 13, 1925.

“‘Safety Week’ Observance is Success, Here.” Alton Evening Telegraph (Alton, IL), June 20, 1925.

“Safety Week Results.” Alton Evening Telegraph (Alton, IL), June 20, 1925.

“‘Safety Week’ So Far Without Accident.” Alton Evening Telegraph (Alton, IL), June 16, 1925.

 

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