Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-01-29

! I'm reviewing the trend of motordom
in the past II months, one cannot help
but believe that the year 1927 will stand
ont as one of outstanding achievements
in behalf of the car owners of America,
according to Thomas p. Henry. presi-
dent of the American Automobile Asso-
| citation.
The progress that the year brought.
and which should be an incentive to
| further effort in 1928 by the car owners
| in their individual and in their organ
ICED capacity. related in the main to
those vital matters on which the con-
! tinued development of the automobile
as an fundamentally of transportation
ard of pleasure hinges" he stated.
/ Before attempting an estimate of
what has been accomplished, let us
state briefly what these vital fields are
| in which organized motordom registered
! progress:
! First while the question of automo-
! bile accidents continues very serious
national problem. there is no doubt
whatever that in 1927 the Nation as
| whole became more safety minded.
Second. the drift toward uniformity
of State motor vehicle codes and mu-
nicipal traffic ordinances gathered nota-
BILE acceleration.
Third, there was a determined Ma
tion-wide effort to head, OIL the ever
| present tendency to increase the tax
burden of the motoriSt-a burden which
has already assumed unfair proportions
Fourth. motor touring as one OF the
outstanding recreations of the Ameri-
can people was on the whole pleaSanter
by reason of increased services than
ever before. and the motor caravan con-
tributed more than ever TO the pros
pcrity of the Nation.
Fifth. realizing the Importance of CO.
ordinated efforts in the solution OF
common problems. the trend toward>or-
ganiZation by the motorists on local
and national scale for service and pro-
lection continued in highly satisfac-
tory way.
sixth. the fight against the pyra-
miding of more motoring laws by the
State Legislatures met with signal sue
cess, since largely due to the efforts
of motor clubs only handful OF 1000
automobile laws introduced in the
State Legislatures were enacted.
Seventh, the movement for better
and wider roads. the basic necessity OF
a motorized America, went on in an
encouraging fashion, with the firmly
established Federal-aid principle as a
valuable pivot in ever-expanding State
programs.
Eighth. the courts took more seri-
Gus cognizance Of the matter OF melting
out suitable penalties against the reck-
less and the intoxicated driver. with
the result that this heinous violator OF
the code of the road is now under con-
slant fire. This is also true of the gen.
eral attitude toward the automobile
thief
Ninth. the decision of the United
States Supreme Court declaring against
the system Of administering justice on
the "fee system" followed by the VIC
tory won in Ohio in the defeat OF the
Marshall law. administered body blow
to the speed traps and the offensive
type of justice of the peace court that
have for years been one OF the banes
of our highways.
Tenth, the movement to rid the
roads OF unsightly rubbish. 'snipe" adj
vertising signs and signs that endanger
travel by initiating warning and di-
rection signs went forward apace, al
though much remains to be done.
while the statistics continue to
show toll Of fatalities and accidents
ing, Il is nevertheless a fact that the
Nation Is today more safety-minded
than II has ever been. This safety
minded complex Is TO my way OF think
ing the most hopeful sign for the
ultimate solution Of our traffic problem
A particularly noteworthy development
of the last year was the extension OF
safety education into the schoolroom.
a humanitarian work in which Ameri-
can Automobile Association clubs played
a leading role. There is hardly city
or town in the country where civic and
business groups have not bestirred
themselves in the interest of a greater
measure of safety on the streets and
highways. While the methods and the
programs for bringing this about
varied widely, the net result was
material advance. We must concede,