The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1923-02-07

NIT should extend beyond one year.
Second, the practice of taking a
deposit from person who violates
the speed regulations and allowing
him simply to forfeit that deposit
should be abolished. A man who
violates the law and is arrested
for that violation should be COM
PEELED to appear and stand trial,
and let it be a public matter; and
let him not only be fined, but il
1t is a Wfllful violation let there
be a jail sentence, and when life
is taken by a man who is violating
the speed law, the law presumes
him to be responsible for the neces-
sary consequences of his act and
he ought to be indicted and pun
ished for manslaugnter or murder,
because that is what it is.
Must Be Quick or Dead.
We had a safety week in Wash.
ington a few weeks ago and notices
were posted all around reading
Don't get hurt" They were all
against the pedestrians. Talk about
pedestrians being at fault, every
person that goes out on the streets
of this city knows that he must
be speedy and jump for his life,
because there are only two classes
OF. people, in the streets-the quick
and the dead. If a person is not
quick, he is very sure to be dead.
Personal safety induces every
pedestrian to look out for him
self. He knows that he must do SO.
When an automobile is coming at
thirty, forty or fifty miles an hour,
as they do sometimes in this city,
person has to look and act quick
ly. You see one coming eighty rods
Always and think there is. plenty
OF time to cross the street, but be-
fore You know it the automobile is
on you, or you escape by an inch,
and such very narrow escapes are
OF daily and hourly occurrence.
Cites Results i'm Detroit.
There is plenty Of law here.
The law is sufficient If enforced
by the courts. They should send
these violators to Jail, as they do
in Detroit. There they have almost
eliminated accidents by the courts
sending speeders to Jail and the
WorkhOuSe. l have an article here
well as poor people have recently
been sent to the workhouse for
violation of the speed laws, and
have been compelled to serve out
their sentences
What we need here are judges
who are hard boiled and who will
enforce the law and punish these
violations. The law ought to be
enforced, and those who violate the
law concerning the operation of
motor vehicles should be punished,
as the law contemplates. Since the
list of January last ten persons
have been killed in this city by
speeding automobiles. In some cases
it was nothing less than murder,
and in such cases there is no suit
able punishment but death or inn
prisonment in the penetentiary.. If
in every case Of willful violation
of the law the offender was pun
ished by imprisonment, there would
not be many more unlawful kill
avoidable accidents.
Fail to Check Speed.
There is no such thing as an I'M
avofda BILE accident when it is caused
by the unlawful act of the respon-
sible person. If the driver of an
or any motor vehicle
keeps it under control and does not
go faster than the law provides.
no one will be killed. Why, every
street car in the city slows down
at the crossing of an intersecting
street, and if there is any indica-
ton of danger the car is stopped.
The motorman must do this or he
loses his job. But the driver Of On
in almost every in
stance does not slow down at the
crossing of an intersecting street,
but keeps on at full speed. He
does the same in going around cor
ners; at least, this is the almost
universal practice, as I have OBJ
served on many occasions. Why
should not the driver Of motor
vehicle be as careful as the driver
of q street car? / think he should
be compelled to observe the same
degree of caution as the motorman
on a street car; and If he would
do so there would be fewer of the
so-called unavoidable accidents.