El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-02-01
DIRECT
AUTO TRAFFIC
Los Angeles Chief Says Mil
lionaire Jailed For Speed
ing, Paints Jail.

/ I'VE are sitter on traffic ordinance
violations in Los Angeles than the
police officers in El Paso," said chief
| of police c. e. Snively of Los Angeles,
who is in El Paso because of the illness
/ from pneumonia, of mis- son vernon at
! Hotel Dieu. Nor have we the same
speed limits that FL PasQ has. In the
residential district we have speed
limit of 20 miles an hour but make no
arrests unless the offender is going at
Speed Limit Higher.
in the residential district, near to
; the business section, the limit becomes
2 miles, but we do not enforce it un-
less the offender is going at - to IS
miles. In the business section the speed
limit is eight, but If we enforced II
traffic would become so congested that
we would be in an ugly mess and, FOR
this reason, when signals are given at
the crossings the speed is sometimes
considerably over eight miles.
Dummy Officers.
In our residential section we have
100 automatons, policemen who have
signs reading upon them to the right !
These are great aids in regulating
traffic by suggestion We have also
state laws covering the tan lights ana
DINNERS upon machines which became
effective on the first of the year and |
these are being strictly enforced. Any !
breaking of the law in this respect is !
penalized by a s25 fine.
Personally 1 don't think there !
should be a speed limit at all when |
people are out in the country and have |
an open stretch of road ahead. 1t is |
the careless driver and the drunken |
driver who causes all the trouble and /
all the spills and, for that reason, we !
penalize them the heaviest The fine /
for driving while drunk is $500 or $50 |
days in jail
Cleo Davenport Tragedy.
Speeding fines were originally |
placed at a minimum of SIS, but so /
many cases came up before the judges |
Ian aiufar fgrr fell
to deliverers for small firms who had 1
TO personally bear the weight of the
fine, that often the fine was not i'm
posed; again there were many remis-
sions of the fine. But when the Cleo
Davenport tragedy occurred and the
driver was never detected, the auto
association, the mayor and council and
police department met and it was de-
be placed upon speeding and then, when
placed. it would be enforced, regard
less of the condition of the drivers of
the cars.
Another interesting thing We do, and
it is a sort Of usurpation of authority
form which no law is provided, is the
of automobiles and motor
cycles belonging to people who drive
CarelesSly or recklesSly. We hold the
right TO withhold the machines from
the drivers and owners for three TO six
months and the effect is that of deny
ing a child Of its toys. It makes the
drivers better
when our speeding ordinance first
went into effect, making one Of the /
penalties 10 days in Jail, the first Of
fender was George Q. Fetterman, !
ranch owner and miner. He
resented the fine but it was imposed !
and he was compelled, after carrying
the case to the supreme court, to serve
the 10 days. The effect for a year. was
very good Then the CLASSY, speeders
got bad again and we had to have some
more jail sentences. FetteTman took
his medicine like a man and didn't like
the way the Jail was painted inside
and personally. bore the expense of
repainting OF the interior.
No Parking Downtown.
when 1 went into office on July l,
1915, L found that autos were being
parked downtown in great numbers
and that this privilege was the rebuilt
Of an ordinance giving shoppers the
Of parking their machines !
from II to y and to each day. An
Investigation showed that the shop
1ers were decidedly in the minority and {
hat the business men were using the
streets Of Los Angeles for a garage. {
We then made the ordinance read that l
'hOpperS might park their cars for one i
o one and a half hours. The business
len who had cars. when parked longer
han the time, were tagged and fined &
IS. We soon eliminated all use of the L
treets for garages. save where that | u
Use was justifiable. (
Our principal trouble in Los An
eles is getting auto drivers to observe f
he distance from a street car in which | 4
hey must stop The distance required I
Y the law in the residential district is ( O
0 feet; while in the business section y
t is within four feet of the side of the
ar. A second trouble is the cutting y
( corners. /
EI PasO Has Good Officers.
From my observation of FL Paso I {
would not say that you have any spe- s
ial traffic problems. The traffic in I
be streets seems to be eXcellently
egulated and, from what I have seen
( your police department I am sin il
ereiy pleased with the caliber and sta h
ility Of its men. We have no sema- S
hores and 1 see that you have one
nd learn that you expect more Per II
APPS we too in Los Angeles viii have h
hese. Right now that task is being S
erformed by 40 traffic officers who
tand at the cross streets. In addition ! 1
D these 40 who devote their time 10 A
rattle exclusively we have nine mount | u
police, which is not a great many | Il
lore than you have in Ell Paso'
Mr. Snively will remain for several ! L
lore days in FL Paso and Mrs. Snively II
Ill remain until the son, Vernon Il
niyeiy is recovered from his attack Of
neumonia