New-York tribune., 1906-08-11
CONVICTED BY CIRCUMSTANCES.


The news of yesterday gave point to the prin-
eiple quoted by us from the proposed new law
In England-indeed. front the existing law there
for the regulation of motor cars on highways,
namely. that any speed which causes damage
or danger is dangerous A truism more trite
could scarcely be conceived. Yet it. seems TO
be beyond the comprehension or at any rate
the care, of some automobile drivers.
We do not know how fast the car was going
which crashed into a farmers wagon IN Queens
Borough on Thursday night. Some witnesses
say IL was going fifty miles an hour Some Of
the survivors say it was not going more than
twenty miles an hour. As TO that we do not
know. What we do know is that it was going
at a dangerous rate of speed. Otherwise it
could not have met with so disastrous an acci-
dent The facts that it could not be swerved
from its course or slowed down in time TO pre-
vent collision with a slowly moving wagon,
and that its impact against that wagon was
so violent as TO smash both vehicles and kill
two men, are ample proof that il was being
driven in a reckless and dangerous fashion and
at entirely too high a speed. The same may
apparently be said of the machine which, at
almost the same hour. into mounted po-
liceman and then smashed itself against pole
In The Bronx IL is said to have been going
forty miles an hour. If it was going only forty
feet an hour it was going too fast, in view of
what happened TO 1T. The point is that it was
going so fast as 10 be beyond immediate con-
troll.
In both these cases the offending cars and
their reckless drivers came 10 grief. But sup
pose that huge racer in Queens had struck,
not a heavy loaded wagon. but light carriage.
II would probably have smashed it like an egg
shell and killed all its occupants. without ma
teral damage to itself or its occupants, and
vx,o11l6 havo hapn SoOf vvhlrlOo on its way To
avoid recognition. without halting to ascertain
what damage mad been done or to offer relief.
Suppose the car which came to grief in Jerome
avenue had merely run down the policeman
without itself crashing INTO pole. The police
man might have been killed, and the merry
party might have sped on their way with a glad
'Ha ha!' as many of their kind have done
after such accidents. It is such considerations
that now make many persons and not merely
nervous or timOrOus ones, either, actually afraid
to drive, especially at night, on roads fire.
Quented hy motor cars. Men may talk till the
cows come home about the ease and accuracy
with which automobile vehicles can be steered
and stopped and it may all be true as gospel. in
theory. But a single accident like one of these
and such accidents are of not infrequent Oc-
currence-is far more impressive and convinc-
ing than all the talk in the world.
1t may, of course be argued that. however
numerous these accidents are, they bear an eX-
ceadingly small proportion TO the whole number
of automobiles, and that, considering how many
machines are in daily and nightly use. we must
regard them as being on the whole used with
much care and prudence. That is quite true
and that fact exculpates the vast majority of
from all blame or criticism But at
the same time it makes all the stronger the con-
demnation Of that small but pestferous minor
ity whose FeckIessness results in these shocking
and wholly inexcusable tragedies.