Los Angeles herald., 1909-07-11

of speed. but it did develop that there
is a crying need for the enactment of
a law that will compel the Justices OF
our city courts to impose punishment
somewhere near commensurate with
the crime that a few speed crazy mani
aes are guilty of. The officers of the
Automobile club are strongly Of the
opinion that the guilty motorists should
be punished. and they wish II under
stood that no offender can hope to hide
behind the clubs cloak if found guilty
of a violation of the law.
Should any motOrist displaying the
clubs emblem he found racing or speed
ing on the city streets, the officers of
the club would thank any person TO
take the number of their car and re-
port II to headquarters at 323 South
Hill street.
There is still another side to this sub
iect that is seldom spoken of i'm print,
and some striking illustrations of II
We're brought out at the recent meeting
between the council and automobile
owners Pedestrians must he educated
to use a little more common sense. and
not knowingly tantalize the mOtOrist
by deliberately standing i'm the middle
of the street in order to see how near
they can pass in front of a moving
auto and not be run down,
One motorist related an actual oc-
currence while passing along conn
try road. where a man and small child
were standing high upon the bank, evi-
IDENTIFY waiting for him 10 pass When
he had reached a point nearly opposite
to where they stood the child suddenly
ran down the bank and across the road
directly i'm front of the moving car
The child was saved. but i'm doing so
i ~
of many dollars.
Enforce Present Laws
Now. suppose that this child had been
run over and the crowd had gathered,
only tn witness the bleeding form of
helnless child lying by the roadside,
what do Won think the temper of the
crowd would have been? They Would
have cried Lynch him to the nearest
tree!" and yet he would have heen en-
tireIv guiltless Of any intended wrong
or the violation of any law. IheSe anu
similar occurrences are daily happenihSS
in all cities the size of Los Angeles ana
yet the great masses of people never
realize that there is any one to blame
but the man in the motor car,
If any one will take the time to IN
vestigate the automobile accidents or
the past year. he will find that large
nercentage of those found guilty OF
sneeding and reckless driving have heeu
chauffeurs and not those who can prop
erly be termed private owners rms
being so, we must fix our new ordl-
nance to deal stringently with this ele-
ment and compel them to demonstrate te
before some competent authority their
fitness to drive motor vehicle IN the
public streets They should have a
license and this license should be re
vokab BILE for cause.
Drivers Should Have Licenses
The motorists of the city pay taxes
into the treasury of Los Angeles to the
amount of approximately $oO'OOo per
year. which represents an investment OF
about S12OO0.OO0 in motor cars ana
when Won consider this vast aggregation
of capital and the amount 1t brings ihlo
the city, is 1t any wonder that tlleat
motorists, who represent our puSllesS
men in every walk of life, are deter
mined that they shall not be maze cur
prits or outlaws in society because d
few reckless drivers have shown an
utter disregard for the law?
As [ stated before, the pedestrians
must be educated to use the sldeWalks
At the corner of Broadway and lhlrd
streets a few nights ago / counted dur-
ing the space of twenty minutes loul
/ teen persons crossing Iue oIltSl III liz
middle Of the block-dodging between
automobiles and other vehicles-besides
six groups of men and women standing
midway between the curb and the
street car track holding pleasant
/ evenings chat.
/ A small runabout came along, and
the driver had SO much difficulty II
/ weaving his way through the congestec
mass of humanity in the middle of the
street that his engine was killed, anl
he was compelled to get out and cram
his car before crossing the intersection
of Third street These things may b
right from the pedestrians viewpoint
but the motorist fails to see it tina
way. and il is only just and fair tina
the pedestrians should have some re
spect for his wishes.
Our new city ordinance Will probapl'
be very severe on the offenders anl
xthe Automobile club of southern can
fornia proffers it's good offices in see
ing that these laws are justly enforced
| and Obeycd.
The time is not ripe but when W.
are "A ltttlc further advanced in the SCI
ence of modern transportation, laF
Will be enacted that will compel tn
pedestrian to keep 10 the sidewalks
and leave the main thoroughtares to
! faster moving vehicles.