NPD'S FIRST COMPUTER

We decided we were going to determine what violations were really causing traffic accidents, then direct our citations to those violations. This would require studying several year's worth of accidents. Had the information been in a computer, it would've been easy work. But we didn't have computers back then.

Actually, we had one Radio Shack Color Computer. Might even have had a Commodore 64. And, recognizing computers would be important tools in the future, we had an officer assigned an ancillary duty of becoming conversant with the beasts. His name was Gary Phillips, and he enjoyed the work. But the task at hand was no match for our "toys." So we found another way to sort and collate the information. Our volunteers!

They could obtain the information manually, and since we had so many willing workers, it wouldn't be a burden on them. Like the Chinese proverb, a Many hands make light work, thing.

Our new computer in hand we decided what info we needed off the reports. This was decided to be, primarily, time, date, location, and cause of accident. And the work began.

Soon the data was collected and we developed a way to deliver it to the cops. It went like this. When an officer came to work for the day he was given a sheet with various violations, times of day and locations. His mandate was, if he wasn't busy with other duties, to proceed to one of the locations in his district and look for the violations on the list. They didn't have to give the violator a ticket, but they did require at least a written warning.

What were the leading causes of accidents? Probably just what the are today. Illegal lane changes, following too closely, aggressive driving. 'Course today we have the worst hazard, cell phones.

The results? After one year, we were one of the few cities in Florida to reduce the accident rate. Reduced it. Unheard of for a growing city like Naples.

Maybe some folks should try it again. Should be easy with real computers.