The San Francisco call., 1906-12-23
Officers of the Automobile Club Of California Complain that Oakland
Policemen Unnecessarily Hold Up Motorists From This City

There is no question that some
operators of automobiles drive in a
very reckless manner and wfllfully
transgress the laws provisions, and
these should be apprehended and Sc
verely punished. and especially when
the transgressions are of such a na-
ture as to menace the public safety.
In arresting these willful rransgres-
sors 1t is not necessary to "stop-watch
them, as their excessive speed, or 9TH
erwise careless driving, would clearly
be of such nature as to warrant an
officer in an arrest.
AS against arrests of the willful
transgressors, officers should be in
structed to consider both time and
place and not make arrests for mere
technical violations Of a speed law, as,
what kind of vehicle. be timed over
a measured distance, it is safe to say
that the very great majority of them
VIII De found d to nh,s be exceeding the legal al
in the cases of electric cars, and no.
ticeably SO with milk and bread wa
gons, express teams, baggage wagons.
delivery wagons. ETC., which must
their business is to be attended to in
the time limit at their command
The automobile, as against the horse
drawn vehicle, has the one great bene
means of conveyance, owing to its
complete control at the hands of it's
operator, and If these distinctive bene-
fits are to be denied then the progress
of the automobile will necessarily be
slow and the public will be deprived
of its greatest benefits; hence officers
should be instructed to make arrests
only in the case of over-fast and dan
gerous driving and not merely because
a mere technical violation of the law
may have occurred.
1t may be argued that in the case of
an arrest an officer must be able to
.1a al nIx- t,n< R~ 49,
has been made, and in order SO to- do
he has been compelled to time a We
hicle over a known distance; reply to
this is that IL an officer thinking mo-
torist, or other highway user, seems
to be exceeding safe speed limit,
time and place considered, the Offend
er can be stopped, his machine be ex-
amined to see that it Is properly IL
censed and numbered in accordance
with the State law, his number be TAX
en- and he be warned that future in
fractions will lead to arrest The fact
that he has been previously so stopped
and warned can be called to the at
tention of the court should the driver
be subsequently, arrested for a similar
offense.
If it is not possible for an officer
to stop car at the moment, the num-
Der thereof can be taken from the H.
cense hanger and the owners name
secured from the State registration
monthly by the Secretary of State for
free distribution, or the name can be
secured from the records of this club
AZ preferred. The owner can thereupon
be notified by mall to call at the po-
lice headquarters. and falling SO to do
can be arrested.
While drivers of automobiles are
certainly amenable to the law, it must
be borne in mind that so also are all
other highway users, and automobilists
should not, therefore, as class, neces-
sarily be selected for prosecution or
persecution.
They might, in justice to themselves,
retaliate by causing the arrest of ali
classes of technical violators Of speed