New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1913-12-21
TO HOLD DRIVERS
FOR AUTO INJURIES
May Favors Law Requir.
ing License for Every
One at Wheel.
FORFEITURE PENALTY
SECOND CONVICTION
Secretary Declares Common.
wealth Cannot Afford to Pay
Price in Dead Citizens.
fBy TELEGRAPH 20 The Tribune.


fBy Telegraph 10 The Tribunel
Albany. Dec. @D.--Pleading for the safety
Of pedestrians on the highways OF the
state, Mitchell May, Secretary Of Stats
| suggests a method of curtaillng the
wholesale slaughter and manning Of citi-
zens. He favors a law requiring every
man and woman to have a license befor.
he or she can drive car and depriving
a careless driver Of this license for cause.
In statement made to The Tribune To-
day Mr.. May said:
/ Since the advent Of the motor car
upon the public highways the use Of the
| average city street has become a matter
! OF peril, and any one Is I'm danger Of
meeting sudden death or injury through
neglect on his or her part. The motor
/ car runs about everywhere. and il is now
! the vehicle most in evidence upon our
| public ways. II may come upon US from
every corner, and because we need IL IN
our business we can i'll afford to be with
out il. However, we must control II in
some way that its path will not be one
Of slaughter, even if il be found neces-
sary to hold it down to a snalrs pace.
TO pay the price in dead citizens. careless
or otherwise.
"Iorse-drawn vehicles have killed more
people than pedestrians have done, OF
course, while the railroads have slaugh-
tered more than the old-fashioned stage I
coaches. Although these casualties are
10 be regretted, IL is not proposed that
this improved method of transportation
be abolished, az their contributions to the
general welfare are too great. and so 1t
is with the modern use Of the highways
by motor cars.
Law General in the East.
ITO those Of US who have studied this
problem with necessary thoroughness Il
has become quite apparent that there Is
only one way TO minimize these automo-
bile accidents and make drivers of motor
cars properly observant Of the public
safety. and that way would make every
driver personally responsible to soma
license authorities, for IL no man or
woman could drive without license,
which would be forfeited automatically
or after due hearing upon proof OF care
Z
the Eastern states from Maine to W.
ginla. the percentage OF accidents wouI
shrink wonderfully.
when the motor car gets into trouble
the driver alone is the person who should
he made responsible TO the law, as the
other persons are witnesses only, civil re-
sponsibllity being settled outside. and not
entering into the question OF the respon-
sibility OF the driver to the criminal law.
At the Same time an arrest is made the
license card should be demanded by the
court. as IL is In nearly every adjoining
state and foreign country where the
motor vehicle law is license measure
rather than a mere license tax; and II
conviction Is had, the same should pe
noted and sealed across the face OF the
license card by the trial court.
After second or possibly third con
ylctiop the license certificate should be
forfeited for six months, more or less
and this would effectually end that
motorists carelessness, for time a.
least. and would absolutely prevent MN
from driving any car until a new license
might be restored. The law should also
make the driver or operator. apart from
the owner or employee, personally re-
sponsible as the levying Of nominal
fine for the failure 20 properly observe
ALI the legal requirements embodied in
any motor vehicle law has not been
proved effectual.
Offender Would Lose Job.
III this method does not prove SUI
ficient and the offender is not reached IN
this way his Job should be taken from
him. and this is what is practically done
when his operators license certificate IS
revoked. There can be no injustice what
ever about this revocation, for a man
who cannot drive without killing or
manning others has no right or privilege
TO touch steering wheel
Another phase i'm this alarming in
crease in the number Of highway CASUAL
ties is doubtless due to the careless ana
Indifferent way i'm which pedestrians cross
the streets II the streetcars and motor
vehicles were kept off the crossings
when they come TO halt, in this way
stopping the habit OF lodging across the
street at any point, many serious acci-
dents would be avoided. In London, Paris
and Berlin the motor cars are driven
through the streets faster than probably
In any city of the United States, and the
police appear TO be powerless; yet with all
this speed smaller number Of accidents
occur, and scarcely any are 10 be noticed
although narrow escapes are frequent.
But the drivers there are responsible, ana
there is no appeal when the local author
ties take away license"
Automobiles in New York State have
increased in number from 9Ji I'm 1901 to
1872 20 this year. according TO the records
of the Secretary of State. No chaureurs
were registered until 1903, when there
were 2.Ss2. This year 56,lS5 already have
heen registered. In the last year the
amount OF business transacted by the
automobile department of the state has
increased "a per cent. There are APP
proximately $4,000 cars OF all kinds in
New York, the leading county.
Christmas Trees in Demand.
The New Haven Railroad reports that