Evening star., 1920-02-18
MOTOR SPEEDING
IN CITY STREETS
T0|NCUR PENALTY
"Working for Government
Plea as Excuse for Reck-
Iessness Not Accepted.

Iessness Not Accepted.
The phrase working for the govern
ment." as a blanket excuse for all sorts
of reckless, dangerous and occasionally
fatal speeding of big motor cars. is ripe
for the discard. judging from the att
ermath Of the death of George W. Rae,
District poundmaster. who was killed
In a collision between an Army truck
and the District pound machine.
Not only are residents of the Dis
trict. motorists nd pedestrians. becom-
ing more and more aroused over the
matter, and the police authorities de-
terrnined on special efforts to check
this abuse, but the War Department offi-
cials have issued the ukase that Offend
ing enlisted men will be tried by court
martial and transferred. while offending
civilian drivers will get fired
Statement by Lieut.. Croxier.
Lieut.. w. T Crozier. in charge of in
vestigation of accidents for the Army,
told a Star reporter that the Army had
made every effort to prevent speeding
and reckless driving. Drivers have been
given explicit instructions as to the alb
solute necessity for observing the traf-
fc laws, he said. and warned OF the
certain consequences if they are ar
rested and convicted.
On the other hand, Lieut.. CroZier
stated. his Investigations of accidents
in which Army trucks were involved
had convinced him that the blame for
most Of them is about evenly divided
between the departmental and other
cars. He added that there has been
splendid cooperation between civil
and military authorities.
Speaks for Army Motor Corps.
Col Charles McH. Eby. head of the
Army Motor Transport Corps. said
that the War Department is "as anx-
ious to prevent speeding as the civil
ian authorities are" and asserted that
the Motor Transport Corps is doing all
in its power to put stop to reckless
ness on the part of lorry drivers.
Asked what penalty was inflicted by
the military authorities for reckless
driving, Col. Eby said:
when a case of speeding or reck-
less driving comes before us there
are two things that must be taken
it, nsIiHrntion. If the driver is a
civilian employe, he is fired immedi-
a.. It tne ufiver is an enlisted man
he is arrested and sent to Camp Meigs,
where he is court-martialed. The PEN
atty. il he is found guilty. ranges from
a fine of IS and ten days confinement
to barracks to the loss of two-thirds
of his pay and much longer con-
hnement.
We ask the cooperation of the pub
lie to put an end to reckless driving on
the part of our drivers. We welcome
all reports of speeding and we will push
the cases to the limit"
Col Eby could not tell definitely how
many cases of Motor Transport Corps
men who have been punished recently
for speeding, and he said he would not
hazard a guess"
Army Truck Drivers Offend.
After the hearing yesterday in connec-
tion with the inquest into the death Of
foundmaster Raes DR.. ]. Ramsay hewitt.
coroner, and Or. William A Carr, deputy
coroner. discussed the question of speed
ing Army trucks in the city streets.
rI've stopped fully fifty drivers Of
Army trucks" said DR.. Carr. who is
equipped with police authority: have
called attention of chauffeurs to viola
tions of the traffic laws and warned
them that they might be arrested. l.
And the invariab1e reply" he added.
was. I'm working for the government"
Working for the government seemed to
give them an idea that they were priv
ileged - 60 as fast as they pleased
without regard to the rights Of others. -
DR.. Carr recalled an instance in which
he stopped the driver Of speeding truck
on Massachusetts, avenue extended and
told him his speed Of forty miles an
hour with a fve-ton truck would get
him into trouble.
Deed, this aip't no ffve-ton truck" :"
was the drivers statement.
What is it?" DIR. Carr ked him.
"Seven-ton." was his response.
The driver gave the stereotpyed
I'm working for r-the-government'
response. lowered his speed and drove
On.
Driver Arrested Later.
DIR. Carr telephoned the Tenleytown
police of the probability of a repeti-
tion of the violation, and q few min
ptes later the police arrested the driv-
er for speeding at the rate of forty
Eve miles an hour.
1 I'VE do not need any more regula-
tions to curb this dangerous practice" I"
DR.. Carr commented. What we need
Is strict enforcement of the present
regulations"
= In fact, the city's point of view as
TO the whole situation can be summed
up in the shrill yell of a gamin who
watched. open -mouthed. a hair-line
Zip made by a big Army touriag car
in front OF a modest electric which
had the undoubted right of way.
Hey. you guy" he shouted, "mebbe
you don't know it, but the wars
ever"