Milford chronicle., 1916-06-02

THE shocking accident last Sunday at
Mt Pleasant, Delaware, where one pro
minent citizen of Wilmington, was killed
and eight others injured, has caused the
public press to voice objection to the
continued disregard of the speed laws.
The Evening Journal states the condi
tons and voices the remonstrance in an
editorial on Tuesday last, which is as
follows, viz.
Recent automobile accidents in this
section should lead to automobilists in
this city and State running their cars at
lower speed and exercising greater care
in approaching street and road intersec-
tons.
There is no doubt about that. We
think it will be admitted by everyone.
'And yet, the question that naturally
comes to the fore after making that dec
laration is Twill they have that effect?'
We doubt it
when a man has in front of him a
law which prescribes that he shall res
trict his speed to from seven and one
half to fifteen miles an hour in cities and
towns and from twelve to twenty-five
miles in the rural districts and when he
has beneath him a machine that is capa-
BILE of making a speed of from forty to
seventy FIVE miles an hour, the tempta !
ton to disregard the law and to test the |
speed of the machine seems to be almost |
irresistible.
That is the cause of most of the ac
cidents that have Redeemed the history |
of automobiling in this and other sections |
of our country. They have resulted from
the speed mania of the operators rather
than from the imperfections of the
machines.
The news columns of our papers have
bristled with the gruesOme stories of the
killing and manning of automobile riders
and pedestrians. The editorial columns
Of our papers have fired broadside after
broadside into such violators of speed
regulations. Laws have been enacted,
speed traps have been set, thousands of
fines have been imposed, thousands Of
graves have been filled, the happiness
Of thousands of homes has been wrecked,
property valued at hundreds of thous-
lnds of dollars has been destroyed and
yet this death-inviting, death-dealing
speeding continues, the velocity on pub.
ic thoroughfares often mounting to more
han a mile a minute.
1T is a situation that is bad for the
public and equally bad for the automobile
rade. It prevents many sanelv-disposed
persons from buying and operating cars
With the increase in the number of cars
lsing our highways and byways; with
he number of licensed speed-iends |
daily, the menace is becom- I
ng more acute all the time. For every
ccident that appears in the newspapers S
here are thousands of narrow escapes c
hat never see the light of publicity. S
Something ought to be done. Some v
hing should have been done long ago. b
t has been deferred so long that with c
1any drivers violation of the law has be- b
ONE a confirmed habit even in the face Ii
( the imposition of fines But will it
e done? We think not The only real
nre is to make prison term the invita-
lie accompaniment of a violation of our
Deed laws, because fines are now re-
arded by those who are able to pay i
lem as being more or less of joke in . .
dent to automohiling. =
The average man who can afford to .
vn a machine eau afford to pay fine u
,casionally because it is only occasion
ly that he is brought to book for his
olation of the speed-limit law. But c
Ie average man who can afford to own +
cannot afford to be sent to Il
-ison and to come out of it wearing te
lon his reputation, if not upon his p
,dy, the striped habiliments which 90 W
ith prison term.
A law that has become a joke in the hi
es of those whose actions it was enact W
to regulate is worse tdan no law. pt
hat we need in this State is law that tn
not joke but a grim reality and that II
II be enforced vigorously and impart
ly against all who violate it. er
If the speed -fend menaced only him of
H. there would be little necessity for a ST,
g. The situation would bring about bu
own solution. Unfortunately, how
er, il menaces those who are in the la.
r with him, those who are using the lei
eets and highways and those who are of
able to protect themselves against his
lzy use of what, properly used, is an in
'aluable mechanical appliance for the an
)motion and expedition of social and
siness intercourse. fro
The killings and maimings will go me
until we have a law which means
nething to those who are disposed to hai
ow safety to the winds and to wilf1lly +.
regard the rights of their neighbors. Z
at law must have behind it public ne,
timent which demands its rigid en-
cement and an ample official body gu,
ich will look for violations and not Bo'
;e its eyes to them. The speed fiend
st be dealt with as reientlessly as we Z
7 deal with any other persons whose cot
ons menace the safety and well-being An
ociety." 5-ii