Evening star., 1924-11-17
TRAFFIC REGULATIONS
Reckless Driving.
BY GUS. A. SCHULDT,
Judge Police and Traffic Courts.

JuuSe OtNS W
Reckless" according to the Stand.
ard Dictionary, means destitute o.
heed or concern for consequences, es.
pecially foolishly needless Of danger
headlong; rash; desperate; not caring
or noting; neglectful; Indifferent"
No better explanation could be
given than this comprehensive def.
milton. Every one of the elements
mentioned tends to and constitutes
reckless driving.
Our reckless driving section reads
as follows:
"No vehicle or street car shall be
operated upon any Of the public
highways of the District of Columbia
in such manner or condition as to en-
danger the life or limb of any person
or the safety of property. Any per
son who shall violate any Of the pro,
visions of this paragraph shall, upor
conviction thereof. be punished By
fine of not more than $780,
1t will be observed that it does not
mention the work reckless" but is
so broad in its terms as to embrace
all the elements OF the definition
given above.
Reckless driving is not new com
plant. 1t was known to the com
mon law and defined as Driving q
vehicle through populous anC
speed or in such manner and suct
circumstances as to endanger the
lives and safety of the Inhabitants
Our regulation practically follows
this old form.
The reckless driver is akin to the
jay-walker, except that the latter
generally only harms himself. while
the reckless drivers potentiality fol
harm and damage is limitless.
While excessive speed is not pei
Sc evidence of reckless driving, 1t Is
in the majority of cases the con
tributing cause. In some States
however, n speed over q certain rate
is considered reckless. Reckless
driving generally embraces the vio-
lation of a combination of the other
regulations, such as excessive speed
ing, cutting corners, passing stopped
street cars, driving with defective
brakes and driving on wrong side of the
street. 1t can readily be seen how q
violation of series of these regula-
tions would endanger the life and
limb of persons.
Hits "Autophobia,.
Any single violation of any one OF
these regulations could, under given
circumstances, constitute reckless
driving. These deliberate reckless
violators of the law come within the
category Of persons suffering with
what the court has termed auto
phobia." They are simply auto-mad
and should be inoculated with a large
legal dosage.
drunken driver. The court has used
tential murderers. 'and, upon full re-
f!ection. is still of the same opinion.
A person who drinks Intoxicating
liquor should not drive. 1t is we'll
known that when a person has had
a drink or two. although not intoxi-
Gated. his judgment may be warped
so that he is not normal. The slogan
should be, stop drinking, or stop
driving"
Many "Gin Drivers"
This court was the first to suggest
the confiscation of autos upon con-
viction of drunken drivers, and the
idea has received much attention
among those interested in traffic regu-
lotions. 1t was based upon the theory
that the Folstead act provides for the
confiscation of a car upon conviction
for transporting liquor therein. The
court said that transporting liquor in
drivers stomach was as serious as
transporting it in his car. OF course,
as enormously stated throughout the
country, the court did not say that
this was violation of the Eolstead
act and that the car could be con-
fiscated.
Perhaps the penalty might be too
severe, but drastic action must be
taken to curb these gin drivers" so
called. particularly when we learn
that 593 were arrested for this offense
last year. This is an appalling and
alarming condition. An act is now
before Congress greatly increasing
the penalty and making jail
sentence mandatory. 1t may be that
in the near future this troublesome
feature of our traffic problem will
have been eliminated by the general
observance of the Volstead act, and
more particularly by the absence of
the liquids necessary to generate gin
driving" This is a contamination
devoutly to be wished for.
Jail Sentence Usual.
Incidentally. another prohibition
act is responsible for the prohibition
against driving while drunk. 1t is
one of the few sections of the Shep-
pard act still in force, and provides
that any person in charge of a
locomotive engine, or while in charge
of any street car, steamboat, launch
or other water craft, or while in
charge of, or operating. automobiles
or horse vehicles in the District, shall
be intoxicated, he shall be punished
by a fine of not less than s25 or more
than $500, and, in default, imprison-
ment for not exceeding three months,
or both fine and Imprisonment in dis
cretion Of the court. The court gem
orally imposes a Jail sentence.
The provision against colliding is
succinctly stated as follows:
mo driver shall carelessIy OF will
fully cause OF allow his vehicle, ami
NAL or street car to collide with any
person, vehicle, street car or animal
nor to injure any person or prop
erty."
1,021 Colliding Arrests.
There were 1921 arrests for collid-
ing last year, which shows that this
is not an uncommon occurrence in
our city Of smooth, wide streets. The
courts observation has been that COL
lisions are occasioned by many
causes, chiefly, however, by the fol-
lowing: Failure to observe right OF
way; disregard Of signals and traffic
rules; incompetent, poor, lmma ture
and Indifferent drivers; dazzling Hgnts'
no lights, defective brakes, speed, back
ing and turning from curb, and gen.
eral carelessness.
The majority of collisions happen
at street intersections, which would
demonstrate that If the right-of-Way
regulation was observed and machine
operated at legal speed, such accl-
dents would not occur. There seems
to be an impression that the one on
the right has the right of way at
street crossings, and that the curo
4Hn Intersection is the basic