39th Engineer Group, 1956 (Source: Kenneth E. Anderson) Traffic accidents between US military vehicles and Germans was an unfortunate phenomena that went hand in hand with the close proximity between kaserrne and the local population. Command efforts to promote and reward safe driving among the military was a high priority. Nonetheless, traffic accidents and ensuing fatalities among the locals was always one of the top most reasons for unfavorable comments about US forces in the German press.