Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-01-27
"HORSE-AGE' AUTO
SPEED LAWS HIT
Safety Stressed as. Major
Point, With Plea for FIex-
IDLE State Limits.


the past decade the Improvements made
in motor car construction have led tc
a steady increase in the potential speed
at which they are capable Of travelling
according to P. G.. Hoffman, vice pres
ident of the Studebaker Corporation.
This increase in speed has made the
motor car a far more useful means OF
transportation. But it has, at the
same time, made the motor car poten-
TALLY a more dangerous element in the
problem of highway safety. The con-
fiict presented by these two factors
makes it necessary to look at the prob
lem Of highway safety from a new
point OF view
With few exceptions, safety and
speed regulations are still in the horse
and buggy era: A tabulation of traffic
laws in the various States compiled
last year. by the American Automobile
Association in conjunction with the
National Automobile Chamber of Com
merce illustrates this very clearly.
20-MiIe Limit in One State.
zone State sets its speed limit for the
open country at 20 miles per hour
Two other States have maximum speed
limits of Is miles an hour, and five do
not permit. the motoriSt to travel in
excess of 80 miles an hour.
"a survey of the history of trans
portation will reveal that every new
mode of travel has been subject to
arbitrary regulation and restriction. It
took years for the railroads to convince
legislative bodies that passenger trains
might be operated safely with speed.
Now the crack limiteds forge through
the night at so and 70 miles an hour
while passengers sleep as free from
worry as they would in their own
homes. II they think at all of the
fears Of their forefathers, it is with q
smile.
THE railroads have proved that un-
der proper conditions both speed and
safety can be attained.
Speed with safety is the foundation
OF the utility Of fast railroad trans
portation. Speed with safety can be
attained by the motor car.
Speed in itself is not a dangerous
thing. Traffic and safety experts know
that speed per Sc Is not the source of
danger it is popularity supposed to be.
1T is not speed alone, but speed in
combination with other factors, that
makes accidents. Fifty miles an hour on
the open road in the country may be
safer than Is miles an hour In crowded
city traffic.
ANY well constructed car built dur
ing the past year or two is safer at so
miles an hour under the proper con-
oitlons than cars of similar class were
IS years ago at 30 miles an hour. AS
lar as the construction of the motor
car is concerned, every precaution has
peen taken to insure the highest factor
OF safety for relatively high-speed
operation =
Even though speed in itself does not
necessarily create hazards, no one can
oeny that there is real danger in speed
plus unfavorable conditions. High sneed
at intersections, in turning corners. in
passing pedestrians or passing other
trafnc in the face of on-coming traffic
from the other direction Is a real
menace.
Drivers who have personal char
acteristlcs which make them unsafe
operators at any speed should be
Darreo from the road. This world an
Ply 10 the intoxicated driver and to
Sriose SO naoicapped by physical defects
menace to all traffic. y. 9
Motor vehicles in such poor condi.
tlon that they cannot be operated safe.
~ over the highways at even a reason-
apie speed should also be barred A
vigorous and sustained campaign in anv
community which would force everv
car TO be equipped with reasonable eff.
nclent brakes would have more safety
enect than q similar Campaign based
on emotional, and soon forgotten. an
peals to drive safely
Legislation and enforcement should
concern itself not so much with
speed as with those acts of a driver
WHICH MAKE speed dangerous. Let us
sCop arrestlng the motoriSt who is do
ing sensible As miles an hour On a
fast road in the open country and con-
centrate on drivers like the short-cor-
only is. N4e
II the motor car is to continue I'd
serve as useful transportation medium
II the automobile owner is to continue
70 pront by advances made in motor
car construction which still further ex-
teno It's area OF usefulness, there must
inevitably be readiuStment of The
outworn conception Of speed.
Michigan AboIishes Speed Law.
Michigan has led the wav In This
attitude by abolishing a fixed speed
limit. Several Eastern States have
taKen a more forward-looking attitude
toward flxed speed limits, and are max
ing tner highways safer by enforcing
safe driving rather than by concentrate
limit. ) "i,~N>'
"Michigan's law does not allow mo-
0rlsts to. drive as fast as their cars
All go, as might be supposed. On the
ontrary, 1t states: No person shall
rive a motor vehicle upon highway
greater speed than will permit him
prlng II TO a stop within the assured
clear distance ahead
In that one phrase, within the as
eEred clear distance ahead lies the
most sensible and progressive solution
the problem OF speed and highway
0afety legislation.
The problem Of speed on the high
Ways is not question of how fast YOU
ore going, but how fast you can stop
The rule defining a drivers legal speed
py his ability to stop within the as
eured clear distance ahead Is obviously
2 finer and more flexible piece of legis-
lation than a fixed speed limit of 80 OF
e5 miles an hour.
THE Michigan law recognizes that
speed in itself is not dangerous. II
does take into consideration. however
Che fact that speed combined with mar.
FoW or slippery pavement, sharp turns
Mills, crowded traffic and other fac.
tors constitutes not only dangerous buI
yeckless driving. The new law provides
for these contingencies in very definite
fashion. It states that an automobile
shall be driven at a careful ant
prudent speed not greater nor less thar
IS reasonable and proper having dut
Segard to the traffic. surface and width
OF thS highway and of tiny other con.
dition then existing
Under the provisions OF the Mich.
Sgan code 20 miles an hour may b.
evidence of reckless driving if traffic il
crowded and streets are slippery. Or
che other hand, a perfectly clear high
way with no intersections, conflictins
traffic or sharp curves permits a mo.
eorist to speed along in perfect safet,
without the consciousness that he Is {
lawbreaker.
"Thns. instead of a fYed snend limit