Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-09-06
PUBLIC SENTIMENT INSISTENT
ON GREATER SAFETY MEASURES
Evidence Seen in Increasing Number of
States Enacting Stronger Motor
Traffic Regulations.

car was traced and the driver pre-
scented with this evidence pleaded guilty
and received a sentence OF 500 and
ten days.
Then there was a case Of collision
at an intersection. The only witnesses
to the accident were the two drivers.
One claimed the defendant had not
stopped at the stop street; the defend
ant just as vociferously proclaimed that
he had. The judge, upon this evidence
alone. was nonplussed. When he asked
for further evidence an of1cer stepped
forward with six pictures, which were
identified and admitted into evidence
The photographs showed clearly and
unmistakably the skid marks Of the
defendants car, which started IL feet
before the stop sign was reached and
continued uninterruptedly into the
center Of the intersection 10 feet be-
yond the stop sign where the crash
occurred. All doubt of the defendants
guilt of speed and reckless driving was
removed. He was found guilty.
Chief Value.
The chief value Of accident investiga-
ton work, Of course, Is that it greatly
increases the percentage of convictions
which are obtained. That when con-
victions are high accidents decrease Is
Ou1 AlB 4OOJ
than rs per cent Of all accident cases
brought into court resulted in convic-
tons. This percentage is considerably
higher than the average. Fear Of con-
viction has resulted in the development
Of a careful, conscientious class of au-
tomobile drivers in Evanston. am
told, incidentally, that during the first
four months Of operation the Bureau
Of Accident Investigation in Minneap-
oils produced 272 cases in court, Of
which 220 were convicted, or a total
CATION work In Minneapolis Is practi-
cally identical with ours.
Our accident prevention squads do
not conflne their work entirely to pros
ecut:on. In connection with each ac-
cident the facts are noted, a study Is
made and recommendations as to the
removal of traffic hazards and obstruc-
tons to view and other suggestions for
safety are made to the head of the
bureau. These are transmitted to the
executive officials, and the recommen-
dations are put into effect as far as
practicable. The scene Of many an
accident has been changed from a place
of hazard to one Of safety by the re-
moval Of q hedge or by the placing
of warning signs. and this action has
lowered our accident ratio in compare
son with our neighboring towns as
shown above
Despite the success Of the plan in
Evanston, there has been skepticism on
the part Of the police officials in other
parts of the country. The objections,
generally. have centered around two
points. It was thought that the system
would not work in q large city and
that 1t would require manpower In the
police department far beyond the aver
age city's budget.
The fact that Minneapolis has al
ready installed the squads and that
Chicago Is now making plans to do so
is argument enough to nullify the first
objection. AS for the second, would
suggest that any city even considering
the plan look into it thoroughly be-
fore making a blanket objection on the
ground that 1t would be too expensive.
Little Additional Expense.
In our own case there has been very
little additional expense. When our
squads are not ON an investigation they
are doing actual police patrol work
Many cities now have crime squads,
with cars equipped with radios, travel
ing about the streets. It would require
only a little additional expense and
training to qualify these squads for
automobile accident investigation work.
Certain It Is that the prevention Of
traffic accidents and the apprehension
of violators should rank in equal i'm
portance with crime prevention and
crime detection in the work Of police
department. And there are few acttvi-
ties which a police department can
undertake toward giving its city safer
streets with less expense than accident
investigation work.