Daily new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1897-1906, 1902-08-11
THE DEADLY AUTOMOBILE.
Stringent Speed Regulations
Required for it.

''ubJVOt Vi LINT kHttIcSt III MOT&du-
town, as well as in Large Cities no
Bad Accident Here Yet, But May be
Any Time.
Though the automobile riders in
M0rgantown are the most careful In
the world, the very nature OF the ma
chine makes them dangerous in the
hands of the most careful drivers and
in any city Gliding noiselessly around
sharp corners in the streets they are
likely to encounter passengers at al
most any turn, and TO be upon them
before the course of the machine can
be changed. or the footmen can get
out OF the way.
Another popularity that adds to
the danger is the fact that there is no
circumscribed track for the auto, as
there is for the street car and you
never know where to look out
for it. Racing on city streets should
certainly be prohibited as much as
horse racing for the auto is ten times
more dangerous than horse.
While there has been no serious ac-
cident here, it is we'll to take precau-
lions in time, and to call attention
to the accidents which have occurred
in larger cities We should begin
regulations in time to prevent these.
The following article upon the SUBJ
ject is taken from the Editorial col
umns of the Medical Record of New
York. While it applies more to con-
ditions in large cities it may be read
with much interest here at this time,
by both the automobile drivers and
the pedestrians who fear the machines.
The Medical Record says:
The urban population of the
United States taken in the mass are
heartily sick of the manner in which
automobilists are permitted tofiagrant-
ly to break the law, and to endanger
the lives and limbs of peaceable citi-
zens. 1t would almost seem as if
driving an automobile had an injuri-
Gus effect on the brain, and rendered
its yotaries more or less irresponsible
for their actions. Perhaps the exhil-
arating influence of rushing along at
great speed and the feeling of the
driver that he is in control of force
tends temporarily TO unbalance his
mind and make him careless of conse-
quences. Certain 1t is that for the
most part, motor carriages are driven
in the cities with a seeming disregard
for the rights and safety of others
that is absolutely brutal and to which
a stop should be promptly put.
Mr. Louis Windmuller, a recognized
authority on the subject, writing in
the Spring number of municipal
Affairs" has this to say: Ordinances
which restrict their speed to eight
milds an hour in cities are seldom
needed. The most fragrant violations
rarely are punished with adequate
severity. Gliding noiselessly and
swiftly over smooth pavements, these
vehicles are apt to run down the un-
fortunate who NAV cross their paths.
In turning corners they seldom reduce
the speed to the rate ordained by the
law. Frequently they collide before
they can signal their approach.
The cyclist on such occasions is apt
to suffer with the pedestrian, and is
consequently more careful than the
chauffeur, who relies on the superior
strength of his vehicle"
Though perhaps the New York
chaffeurs do not equal those of Paris
in impudence and Indifference to the
rights of others, yet they are bad
enough. Upon any day one may wit
ness automobiles being driven up and
down Fifth avenue at a. rate of ten to
thirty miles an hour, while guardians
of the peace watch their comet-like
course with an .'it's-n business-of.
mine kind of look
II it is found impossible to restrain
furious driving of horseless vehicles
in cities, they should be kept off the
streets entirely and restricted to en-
closed roads of their own. Public
sentiment will soon ordain that steps
be taken to abate the automobile nui-
sance.p