Evening star., 1924-12-31
Uniting ON the Traffic Problem
W.-Each State Unit i'm Traffic Control
By ERNEST GREENWOOD,
Secretary National Conference Street and Highway Safety

All legislation intended to govern
and regulate street and highway traf-
flc should be for adoption by States
and not by cities This Is the con-
clusion of the National Conference
on Street and Highway Safety. and
means that the State enforcement
division should have sufficiently broad
powers to formulate the regulatory
provisions necessary to the detailed
control of traffic, leaving, however,
to municipal authorities the formu-
lation and enforcement of ordinances
covering local conditions.
Every State should have a depart
ment or bureau administering the
laws applying to motor vehicles.
including the issuing and revocation
of licenses for both cars and drivers,
and also for the enforcement OF street
and highway regulations. Such a
department or bureau should have an
adequate staff not only to handle
licenses, but to examine drivers,
police the highways and investigate
accidents.
DifncuIt to Change Laws.
1t is proved fact that once a
thing is written into the law 1t Is
difficult to change. Conditions on
our streets and highways are chang
ing so rapidly that any motor vehicle
law should deal, as far as practicable,
only in general principles, establish
ing minimum and maximum limits,
and leaving to experienced and tech
nically trained administrators the es-
tablishment of such traffic regulations
as will carry out the intent of the
law. This makes 1t possible for the
motor vehicle administrators of the
several States to get together, as they
are now doing at intervals, discuss
their respective problems and make
such changes in their rules and regu-
lations as will meet changing condi-
tions and at the same time accom-
plish the a1l-important principle of
uniformity of practice as between
States.
AS stated in the preceding article,
one of the first things such a depart
ment should be authorized by law to
do is to set up the machinery for
the, reporting and Investigating of
accidents. 1t should be made man
datory, with severe penalties, for the
breach, for all owners and drivers to
report accidents in which they are
involved and municipalities should
be required to report to the state
motor vehicle administrator all acci-
dents occurring within their corr
norate limits The motor vehicle de-
partment should be provided with
ADEQUATE funds to maintain a trained
corps of Investigators, and this, COM
bined with the keeping of uniform
and detailed records and spot maps,
will make it possible to gradually
eliminate obstructions-using the
word obstruction" in its broadest
sense-to the free flow of traffic and
hermit the natural laws governing
that flow to function normally.
Drastic Penalties Necessary.
No person should be permitted to
drive a. car who has not applied for
and received license from, such .
State motor vehicle department, and
the State law should provide the
most drastic penalties for driving
without such a license. The depart
ment should have full authority to
refuse an operators license to any
person and to suspend or revoke 1t
for any reason deemed sufficient The
department should be required by
| law to determine the applicants abil-
J ttZ t. operate = NQtox Vehicles safely,