The Washington times., 1926-01-23

More drunken driCsrs than Gny
othsr city its size II The country.
More conOicffons for driOine
sDhiIe drunk than any city " any
size il the country.
This IS the record Of the Ma
tional Capital III the courts be-
fore which are hailed motorists
who try to mix alcohol and gas.
With but d hundred less ar
rests for driving while intoxi-
Gated than the city Of New York,
Washington had almost twice as
many as Baltimore, while court
records showed II more convic-
tions on the charge than IN New
York and about $50 more convic-
stions than in Baltimore.
Survey Is Amazing
II am amazed at the number Of
convictions IN washington on this
serious charge declared President
Thomas p. Henry. Of the p. g.
Division OF the Automobile Asso-
citation Of America, today in max
Ing public the figures gathered in
nationwide survey By the A. Al.
a. In one way It may b
tribute to the alertness Of our
courts, but this does not explain
away the fact that so many intOxi
Gated drivers should be arrested on
our streets. 2
The Immediate result Of the sur !
vey from which the facts were
gained is the announcement in
positive terms that the A. a. "A.
will not defend any Of its members
arrested for driving while intOxI-
Gated and that ft will FedOubIe lts
efforts TO aid the authorities to rid
the highways 0f the country Of
what it regards as one OF the
greatest nenaces to any com.
munity
The announcement Of the result
OF the survey made by the Al. A. A.
contains also the statement that
there IS no diminution anywhere IN
the country In the number OF ar
rests and convictions on this par
Gated driver is still running wild
in many oip the large cities.
Baltimore Record Doubled
An analysis of the result of
QUESTIONABLE sent to more than
700 cities that discloses the Wash
ington record for the year stands
at 5S4 arrests and 293 convictions.
as compared with 732 arrests and
282 convictions in New York city
during the first nine months OF the
year.
Philadelphia had 645 arrests on
this charge for the year but only
56 convictions at the end of the
first seven months and 1S4 convic-
tions for the whole of the previous
year.
Nearby Baltimore had 285 ar
rests and 1873 convictions for the
first 10 months of the year.
'sOur survey has gone far enough
to indicate that a great many
cities are lax in their method OF
dealing with the man who is con-
yicted of driving while intoxicated
and that in many cases this type
OF offender is let off with a fine
only said Mr.. Henry. Heavy
iail sentences and revocation of
driving permits. he continued.
should be tuniforrply Theeted out
to this class of offender.
Association to Drop Them
This type of driver is an enemy
of the community and particularly
of motordom. Only in the rarest
instances are they club members.
To defend them or to keep them
on our rolls would be to vitiate the
safety work of motor clubs, and to
more of the harassing
from which the motor
lists are now suffering everywhere.
organized motordom is doing its
best to eliminate the intoxicated
driver from the highways but II
does seem that many cities and
towns are treating them with
leniency that affords sharp con
trast to the zeal with which VIC
lations Of petty regulations are
prosecuted.