Perth Amboy evening news., 1921-09-15
DON'T SPEED UP
BY Frederic j. Haskin.

WASHINGTON Sept. 15.-when you see a
straight stretch of road in. front of you don
speed UP. You are going fast enough already;
Every time You decide to open the throttle and
burn the road for a while, you are IN u
risking you own life and the lives OF other
Al least. that seems to be the opinion of some
exnort observers of automobile traffic, who are
trying to solve the ever-srowinE aGciuens ptopt
lem. For example, Harry ID. Willar, assIstant
chief engineer of the Maryland state ROADS
Commission, finds that most OF tne acciee nv
in that state occur on straight stretches OIL ING
hest road and not at intersections or at curves;
Passing on such stretches is a ieadlhg cause " %
accidents. Sometimes the faulty driVans u
i,dqmen of the man who is trying TO pass an
other car is the cause, and about as oI'en It's
due to the failure of the man ahead 10 give
right of way. ~ oortradic+ the
statement which has often been made that mose
accidents on surfaced roads are que inu.
dinc They concur, however, with the opiniois
of MANY other observers. The danger increases
in direct ratio as the speed increases. rs" "a
dents Of any moment occur IN omd nacessa.
because everyone is going SLOWLY ana e 1o
rilv taking a good deal of care. Neithsl az
MANY accidents occur on rough country Loa
where it is hard to make mo[e a ia making
thirty miles an hour on a long stretcn a
and another one tries to pass II, ~ cot For
snead Of perbap DIS forty miles, the scene Is ~
ap ecc;dent The man ahead may not near the
signal, may veer to the left AFTER tne ~ nc On
is alongside, forcing it INTO the dhao ar coming
from, the other direction, perhaps at lo,ty -
a. hour IT may be out of sight around d ~
a mile ahead one minute, v anu IN front Of the two
la,er' nnroachine from the opposite direction.
There are few roads that Will saleiy e
u"'e A Neglected Subject.
=. 10 .r,azing how little this subject OK auto.
mobile accidents has been stuoleH. ng oninions
notbing but scattered and confictlng nonst
~ ~ s,hiect. And yet the problem IS a mos
serious one. Automobiles kill more peopiI Li1ied
wear in New York state than nave peen rears
r.u;oa bandits and reVelS III seven $500 -
accordinr to one authority. In rour years
number of deaths in New York tn ror 4aa to
L. 70 auto accidents increased from 4ooU
due I y Il over the country it is the same: Auto
kill more people tnan obiies are
dents and more than robbers; ,aoient death in
The greatest single cause of vlolent ueh 49, Of
An,erica and worse than that, the ~ We are
fatalities due to them grows steauiiy' aston.
evloen,is nems to have found it worth while
70 make a thorough analysis OF tne - dan
accidents, so locating the chleh coniroi.
a and proyiding a basis Tor their a. subject
ger anu ~ What orma on the suoJeo'
can be found brings out strongly nt.I cause
sions. In the first place, the u MY misuse of
~ most accidents is speedlng-tne nmts in
OF o y mower which, a motor car pu's 40
the drivers hands. In the secohu p 20 not by
control Of accidents is pest cop hut bv imposing
Soavv nenalties upon a man when ne ahove
namses damage by his carelessness' ated IT.
a D., the revoking of licenses Tor rePeateu ~,
an, Wy In New York City the same drlVer nc IL
haen convicted of careless driving 81 is Of least
s;npIa wear, and is still drlVlns; aefatv as the
as much q menace " Nv p
average gunman. WHOM the people
Edncation is here needed; Wnen e driving
have been made to realize that nnnishment for
g. cr;,ne and to demand proper - +bot
- than the courts will begin metns ouu dese
punishment. A campaign TO eduta.e 4her Re
TRAN will have to go along 1s Who Who dart across the
Greet in the middle of the block, and nit" he
who chase balls across the street es sincess-
autoist with a proDien ""ioA
N,,,,,, solva oply nv luck.
AuA' Abuse of Power. 49,,
F. B. House. presiding mag,sura nat the prob
Iem of auto accidents is largely a propieAn AZ
nreyenting the abuse of power by appiy.ns a
auate punishment tor such ABUSE rmnm who !, n has a power
viii tend to abuse it. Every monarch. every
father. every owner of a dog, is more Or ies
bully. He has power over something ese, any ~
he has an irrepressible tendency to abuse II,
the while making excuses to himself Tor VIA
he does. The man who has nifty morse pomot
1nder his throttle is no exception. lie cahho.
resist the temptation sometimes to step on het
and make her fly. He cannot help feeling Una.
the pedestrians ought TO nave sehSe o"'"eN
The effort to restrain this man in his exup-
Grant moments by complicated regulations Is q
failure. For example, Washlng.om "a +he citv
one is in and the number of houses to the ploeN'
But a man does not go along alternately study.
ing his speedometer and counting the houses AZ
the block, especially at night.
Here the fallacy of so much American ies-
islation ia again illustrated. Here is the Theory,
seen in a hundred prohibitory laws OF one KIM
and another, that if you just enact enough reg
ulations about a mans conduct, you can save
both his life and his soul. h;s
What YOU actually is to make ms
life a burden with your endless restrictions anu
to cramp the development OF whatever ne may
have in the way Of a soul. The only legal meuh-
cd that has ever worked is to give him all the
freedom possible, make laws as few and simple
as possible. and when the man actually does
harm, punish him severely, or if he is 1rrespon-
sible. confne him in an institution. After all
civilization is only possible on the theory that
most of us are responsible beings who can pc
trusted. If most of us are not that, then the
nation should be converted into one great asy-
lum with a high fence around it.
To come back to motoring. the speed limits
have worked little except injustice anywhere.
One man breaks the limit every day ana IL
never caught. Another man goes a mile an
hour too fast once, and happens to be arresteo'
once a month or so the cops turn out ana make
a few arrests. That is all they can do. A speed
limit cannot be enforced more than a rev per
cent. nor can any other statute regulating con-
duct. Furthermore, what is a safe speed DE-
nends entirely on circumstances. Let the man
drive as he will. If he Injuries some one, ana
tha cause IL his own carelessness, put him In
iail. Punish him adequately. If he does IL
again, revoke his license. .ho
This. in the opinion of most experts: IS the
solution. Multiplicity of absurd laws, with len
lent and incompetent courts, cost heavily every
year in life and property.