RATES 8,000,000 CARS AS MENACE ON ROADS Publication: The New York Times Dateline: Washington, D.C. Date: 7 December 1930 Subject: Safety Topic: Thomas P. Henry Note: Paragraph breaks lost in automated transcription.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 6.—In a total registration of about 28,000,000 automobiles in the United States, 8,000,000, or 28 per cent, were bought prior to 1925, and have a rated value of less than $25, according to figures made public today by the American Automobile Association. This value, taken from the Blue Book of the automobile industry, applies on cars of the 1925 vintage, vehicles antedating that year being excluded from the list. "Millions of these decrepit cars are fit for the junk yards," Thomas P. Henry, president of the association, stated in commenting on the survey. "The survey has a two-fold significance," he continued. "First, it shows the enormous amount of replacement now long overdue in the motor vehicle equipment of the nation and the importance of this factor in the appraisal of our economic fortunes in the months immediately ahead. Second, and perhaps more important, the presence on our highways of so many worn-out vehicles during 1930 may well be reflected in the year's toll of accidents and fatalities, when the final count is made. The condition is one which places a maximum premium on careful driving and on a high standard of maintenance."