Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-09-06
BY CHARLES II. BARTLETT
Mayor, Evanston, Ill.

mayor, Evanston, III.
Every one agrees that the drunken,
careless, reckless and law-breaking
driver should be taken of the street
and kept of. We all agree that he
should be severely punished If he in
argument on this subject because every
one feels almost instinctively that
such measures are absolutely necessary
for safety. Public sentiment is becom-
ing increasingly more insistent that
adequate measures be taken to make
the highway safe for traffic. Evidence
of this Is seen in the increasing num-
Der of States enacting strong driver Ii
cense laws. with examination Of new
drivers and other effective traffic meas
ures. such as are recommended for
adoption by the National Conference
on Street and Highway Safety.
Attention Not Given.
The police departments in many
cities and towns have been, rightly or
wrongly. handed the Job of preventing
death from trafic accidents and, along
with it, the duty of convicting drivers
who, by violating laws, cause acct
dents Many police departments have
not given to this phase Of their work
the attention which its Importance
warrants. While the detection and con-
viction of murderers and other crini-
mails Is q paramount duty Of the police
department, apprehending and penaliz-
also important and should be carried
on perslstently and relentlesSly.
Dangerous drivers take more Amer
lean lives than dangerous criminals.
There are three times as many traffic
deaths annually as there are homicides.
Yet traffic killings rarely get the same
attention as others, either from the
police or the public.
The claim Is made that 1t Is very
difficult to secure evidence of traffic
offenses. and that testimony which will
convince sympathetic juries is usually
lacking; but when equally effective
methods are used to get dangerous driv-
ers as are used to get dangerous gun
men convictions can be obtained. This
has been demonstrated conclusively in
many cities, notably in Minneapolis,
Detroit, San Diego, Cleveland and
Evanston, Ill. The methods used are
similar in each case, but we believe
they have been developed to a higher
degree in Evanston than in any other
city. This city, just north of Chicago,
has proved to be an excellent laboratory
for this type of work. and the man
who was largely responsible for its de-
velopment has been called to Chicago
to a recognition Of the virtue of the
plan.
Evanston has q population of about
$1,000 and motor vehicle death rate
of los per 100, 900 population. Three
cities adjoin It. The one on the north
has q rate Of 18.4e: Chicago, to the
south, has rate Of 1925; and the
town on the west has Q rate Of 1874.
The one outstanding reason for our
excellent record Is our accident tnves-
tigation work.
When, early in the summer Of 1929,
the frequency OF accidents caused our
could not be found whereby accidents
could be prevented in many cases, and
those directly responsible punished, we
decided to organize the Bureau of
Accident Prevention. This body be-
gan to function on September l, 1929.
with a personnel consisting of nine
men. There were just three squads of
two men each for the three shifts and
a small ONCE personnel. These squads
answered accident calls and investi-
gated accidents at the scenes, with the
purpose Of getting evidence against
guilty persons: The squads are
SCUOO1eQ III 1IISt alO dllQ PIlOCOBTaD0Y.
They travel in Sedans, carrying their
cameras, first aid equipment, steel tape
and portable typewrtters. They in
vestigate every accident that occurs in
the city limits and, In every case DOS
sible, make an arrest following the &C
cident. They sign the complaints,
subpoena witnesses into court and
make out q case by testimony, pic
lures, measurements and statements
taken after the crash. This eliminates
the Settled out Of court" dismissals
and the chance Of allowing the guilty
person to escape prosecution because
of a desire not to prosecute by the
injured parties because Of a elk"
Two Gases Cited.
Let me cite two cases of how these
"trafic detectives" obtained convictions
for negligent driving where the aver
age police department would have
failed. There was hit-and run driver
case. A boy on q bicycle was struck
by an automobile, which left the scene
of the accident, but which was followed
by another car far enough to be par
TALLY identified. The witness returned
to the scene Of the accident, but the
boy had been removed and there was
nothing to do but report to the police
department. A search was made IN
all garages for the car involved: One
answering the description given was
found in Q garage and q careful ex.
animation indicated q blood stain and
dent made by the boys head. These
were photographed, the owner OF the