The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1925-03-12
With The
.Aibi Artists
"A Cross Section Of the
Daily Grind in Judge
ScIluIdt's Court.
Read En- and Weep.

&
today-nos one really artistic
case on the docket. There wasn't
: game-fish lin the days haul.
Every last one Of 'em landed
without 4 struggle, like pulling
. sick carp ont OF the canal.
Even the collisions were insipid
affairs-nOt = car tipped over
or even 80 much az q windshield
cracked. and there wasn't q wit
ness in the room with his head
tied up.
So we're going to philosophers
and statisticaIize about the hit
and run drivers. They're respon.
sible for the insipidtty Of things
in court. Most OF the really
spectacular cases got away. like
the big fish.
That sounds calIous and brutal,
doesn't Il? But we've been read
ing sT1elen's Babies, again, ana
you.ll have TO blame Pudge and
Teddy. They wanted their stories
''all buggy" and we've probably
caught the Infection from them.
Mainly Statistical.
One zOf the hundred or 80 hit
and-run cases that we've report
ed during the last two years,
about nine out Of ten were also:
!. Driving without q permit
2. Transporting liquor
la1 in containers,
tbl otherwise.
3. Joy riding.
In each OF these cases .he
driver knows he's in for some
thing besides collidfng: he's a law
violator from the start; one more
violation can't make things much
worse, he thinks. and ii may let
him out altogether.
~ Desperate Desmond Drives.
In for a penny, in for a pound
OR, per our present and pros
pective regulations, in for $40, In
for $500, Is his motto; neck-or-s
nothing Is his general status; as
well hung for an old sheep as q
lamb is his philosophy.
These permitIess drivers, rum
mics. and jOy-riders are taking
an awful risk from the start, ana
for no rational purpose. When
the time comes for them to take
a great risk for q very coganI
reason, indeed, they'll NOT be
found wanting. They'll run from
a $500 fine as quickly as they
will from $40 one.
Strategy.
As the hit.and-run army is re-
cruited mainly from the three
groups mentioned a few para
graphs back, Il looks as though
a thinning OF these groups is the
best way to discourage the re-
cruiting.
Many an unlicensed driver is
running around town with q $40
fine hanging over his head, who
wouldn't do that IL he had a year
in Jail staring him in the face.
He couldn't do 1.-THE couldn't
stand the strain.
The phony permit is a great
help to these birds, too. They
feel safer with some kind OF a
ticket in their possession-like
that preacher who used to borrow
a shilling every Sunday morning
before he stepped into the pulpit.
The money in his pocket made
him feel easier, even IL it wasn't
his. and he preached a better
sermon.
It's so easy to get duplicate
permits, and hand them out to
your friends, while you keep the
original.
Boob Psychology.
They're all picked up even.
tually, Of course, but the 6fficaI-
looking pasteboard gives the
none-to-intelligent driver a feel
ing of security that helps him
over rough places until the fatal
day arrives.
All Of which seems to indicate
driving without a permit, and
increasing the resistance, so to
speak, in getting duplicates.
would have more effect in reduc-
ing this class Of hit-and-runners
than filming them $500 IL and
when they're caught.
And corresponding measures
would reduce the other two
classes of Dempsey-Nurmis--
good night! Here's our eight
hundred words all used up, and
we haven't got around to telling
about the safety principle in
crossing street Intersections. Did
you know that the left side Of
an intersection is about thirty
percent safer than the right hand
side?
Well, II the fishing in traffic
court 10 poor tomorrow, wen tell
you all about IL.