Evening star., 1931-11-22

Thirty-cne States police their high
ways for the enforcement of motor We
hlele laws and the regulation OF auto
mobile traffic, according to a survey
that has been completed by the Ma
tional Safety Council. Seventeen States
were found to have no State highway
police. They are Arizona, Colorado,
Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas. Ken
lucky, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada.
New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio,
Oklahoma, Virginia, Wisconsin and
The need for this highway policing is
indicated by the fact that there are
more fatal traf1c accidents in villages,
haulets and the open country than
there are in cities Of 10000 and over.
The ratio is % to 18 killed per 100000.
THE warning finger of statistics be-
comes more insistent year by year IN
pointing out the growth of rural trafhc
accidents says J. s. Baker, assistant
traffic engineer of the National Coun-
ell. Unless steps are taken to curb
the growth of highway tragedies, 1t is
more than likely that the danger of ac-
cidents will injure the usefulness OF our
costly State and county road systems" !"
Generally speaking, there are three
types OF Organizations for highway
patrol service. First comes the State
police e-general law enforcement ON
cers-Vho, unless there is q separate
trafnc force, also handle the enforce
ment Of State highway laws, either
through q separate traffic division or IS
part OF the responsibility Of each of
1icef. At least nine States have such
State police.
State highway police are organiza-
tions devoted exclusively to the en-
foreement of motor vehicle laws. The
officers patrol the highways against
speeding, reckless driving and other
similar offenses, and in emergencies di-
rect traffic If that be necessary. In
some States they examine applicants
| for drivers licenses. At least 70 States
have such highway police. In few
States the State Highway Department
officers, o third group, have limited
police powers, but IS q rule their ac-
regulations as those having to do with
weights of loads, dimensions Of ve-
hicleS, tire equipment, registration and
th0 like. Highway maintenance patrols
are not to be confused with traf1lc Of
| ficers, for they have no authority to
| enforce meteor vehicle or other laws.
Wide Range In Personnel.
The number of men considered ade-
QuAH 1OE . StHbC puAISC AOkG% - 10
| variable as the administrative method
| or the type of organizations. Some
| States seem to consider mere handful
of such officers sufficient, while others
have forces running into the hundreds.
| Nebraska, for example, has only three
State trafae officers and South Dakota
| only two. New York, on the other
hand, has 1872 stations and 657 officers,
Pennsylvania has AS and California
| 420.
Arrests for law violations range from
| 40 in Q year in Nebraska to 90,6z5 In
California, the West Coast average per
officer being more than 2l5.
All State highway trsflc patrols are
alike In one respect-they are exceed-
| ingly mobile forces, depending for the
most part on motor cycles as Q means
of covering their beats Many autSmo-
hiles are used, however, and in at least
three States the horse Is still the re-
lance of some of the mounted officers.
The New York force has 303 horses to
113 motor cycles and 201 automobiles,
New Jersey has 80 horses to 10 motor