The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1912-02-29

he ssw Mr. Hall crossing the street toward
q car that was seemingly waiting for him.
II was raining hard and Mr.. Hall was
lowering his umbrella so he might get in
the car. Suddenly. said the young chauf-
fuer. the car went on and Mr.. Hall re-
traced his steps and stood still just in
front Of the automobile. Before he
could apply his emergency brakes the
machine had run over the man. He
jumped from his seat and picking up the
injured man placed him in the tonneau
of his car and raced him to the hospital.
Mrs. Frances J. Mager. who was driv-
ing the machine that ran down and killed
elderly Mrs. Wagner Of 1877 West 1i2th
street. on 81. Nicholas avenue at 112th
street on Tuesday afternoon. was ar
rsiened before Coroner Feinberg in his
private Office yesterday morning and
paroled in the custody Of her husband.
q. A. Julius Mayer. a manufacturer Of
machinery. living at 252 West Seventy
sixth street.
Mrs. Mager was dressed in black velvet
end was much distressed. sobbing nearly
oil of the time she was in the Coroners
ofice.
u was going very slowly" she said
svhen saw a gray haired lady standing
near the gutter. A truck was directly
ahead Of me and as it drew alongside Of
her il obstructed her from my view =.
The next thing | saw the lady standing
directly in front of my car. She must
have lodged ahead Of the truck and then
jumped back toward the gutter. l ap-
piled my brakes. but it was too late. Oh,
it was awful, When my machine came to
a standstill jumped on the seat and
called for help. My chauffeur. George
McNealis, and another man pushed the
car back bit so that they could remove
the body"
Her chauffeur said that he considered
Mrs. Mayer an expert driver and knew her
TO be a very careful one.
The figures compiled by the National
Highways Protective Society show a
marked and steady increase in the num-
Der Of persons killed and injured by au-
tomobiles in the five boroughs in the last
two years. The society was founded two
years ago and its statistics cover only the
period since its formation. The records
show that I12 persons were killed and 595
were injured in 1910.
OF those killed AZ were under 10 years
WI dkc, Wiilt ~ WtIt oNcI tud' dfc vi
those injured 100 were under 10. In 1911
the number of killed increased to 142. of
whom 81 were children under 10. The
number Of injured jumped to 1881, of
whom 256 were children. The month of
January. 1912. showed killed and 81 in
jured. Eight out Of the nine persons killed
we're over is years of age. and % out OF
the 81 injured were over that age. These
figures for january compare with killed
and IS injured in January, 1911 and 3
killed and II injured in January. 1910
Altogether in the twenty five months for
which the society has kept records 81
children and 1855 adults. 283 persons in
all, have been killed by motor vehicles
in Greater New York, and 1 ,613 have been
injured.
crease in the number of cases in which
the driver of motor car has run away
after running down pedestrians.
The average number of accidents in
which pedestrians are injured is at its
height in the fall when owners of auto
mobiles are arriving in town from the
country Those who keep the records
explain this with the suggestion that
speed limits are less stringent in the
country and that for the first few days
or weeks in town more carelsssness is
shown in the matter of speeding. The
month show ing the largest number o
killed in the twenty-five months records
however is December last. when tel
children and thirteen adults lost their
lives
The police contend the number OF per
sons killed or injured in this way increases
only with the increase Of population ant
that taking population into account ther'
really is a decreasing number Of such
accidents per capita. As for the reasons
for these accidents the police say nc
general statement can be made-thai
each case. almost. has its own reason
In the cases of children run down the
evidence often shows that the child rae
directly IN front OF the machine while a
play, games OF ball in crowded street,
in the summer being prolific cause o
such accidents.
In number Of cases recently grownup
have been killed or injured by steppin.
from behind a trollev car or somethn.
else which hid the driver OF the automo
bile and the pedestrian from each other
The officials of the Police Depdrtmen
are unwilling to admit that there is al
increase Of carelessness on the part o
drivers of motor vehicles.
The only speed limit in force in the cit.
now is the more or less archaic eigh
miles an hour. The police say that a,
effort is made to keep drivers down t.
as near this limit as practicable. Th
matter Of so-called reckless driving
enters here. however. and puts the ques
the speed shown constitutes "reckles
driving" or not.
, The one thing necessary for a materil
lowering of the number of automobil
accidents in New York streets. in tn
view of the police is the holding of driver
more strictly to account for accidents
In this respect the police contend the
already are doing all that they can d
and that any change toward create
severity must come from the court
and from the Coroners and Coroner,
juries which take up the cases after tn
police have made the arrests. The theor
Of the police attitude is TO make an al
rest in any case where the injury is ser
ous or where death results. There ar
exceptions to this, however. An e,
ample of the exception is the case of th
arunning down of Mr., Zick. when tn
name and address of the chauffeur of th
.taxicab were taken and he was allowe
to GO Mr.. Pick died four hours later