Evening star., 1924-11-17

rightly so. Laws are primarily to in
sure Justice; full appreciation OF
safety saves lives and limbs, no mat
ter who is to blame"
Must Report Accidents.
After collision the regulations re-
quire the operators to stop and to
give name and address to person in
Jured or whose property has been
damaged, or to report same to the
nearest precinct. 1t would seem that
the natural instinct would be to stop
to see If any one was hurt and If as
sistance could be given. But, sad to
relate, many try to get by" without
doing so. They are generally the
reckless class.
1t is a peculiar commentary upon
the motorists general Indifference
that little attention is paid to his
brakes. Outlines it is the only link
between him and eternity. It's also
the missing link. The brakes should
be examined every day before start
ing out. The Bureau of Standards de-
serves much credit in attempting to
educate the drivers in this respect.
According to these statistics, a brake,
to be in good condition, should stop
car going IL miles an hour within
16.1 feet; at IS, within 36.5 feet, and
at %, within 81 feet. 1t might be
said that driving a car at ordinary
speed with defective brakes is as
reckless as driving faster with good
brakes.
Would Penalize Owners.
all machines, their absolute necessity
on trucks is self-evident. There
should be law penalizing owners Of
trucks for allowing them TO be sent
out With defective brakes. Many
cases have come to the attention of
the court where drivers have report
ed their brakes as bad, but have been
ordered out Notwithstanding. 1t is
simply a matter for the driver to quit
or drive. The regulations prohibit
the driving of a car with defective
brakes, and thus the driver only is
penalized.
Dazzling lights are also prolific
cause for collisions. Every one who
has been In a car can appreciate this
danger. The regulations prohibit the
use OF any lights that are binding or
dazzling to persons using the streets,
and list of approved lights is kept
on file in the Traffic Bureau. Never
theless, there are too many of these
in use. The Bureau OF Standards Of
fered and did test lights, but its offer
was not SeneFdlly acCepleu, oAi5 7UV
applying.
Urges Strfcter Test.
Many accidents are caused by the
poor handling and operation of cars.
The operator is not sufficiently IA
miliar with its mechanism to manip-
ulate it quickly or his brain refuses
to function in the face of danger.
This brings US back to the PROPOSE
tion that more care should be exer-
cised in the licensing of drivers, as to
their judgment and reaction, and that
more thorough test should be given
in the operation of cars.
The operation of car with a
Smoke screen" is only done with an
unlawful purpose in view. This cow
ardly and dastardly driving deserves
the extreme penalty and the court
had the satisfaction of giving several
the limit in constituting the reckless
driving regulation as applicable. The
new regulations classify the law in
this respect and should not make the
prosecution as complicated as for
merly and Congress has a more dras-
tlc law in view making it felony,
AS a general proposition. reckless
driving is simply a. disregard of the
safety regulations. Collisions are
caused by acts of omission or commits
sion by one or both of the drivers. In
the final analysis there is no such
thing as an unavoidable accident"