Evening star., 1935-12-04
REVOK|NG PERMITS
HELD SAFETY NEED.
Short Suspensions Termed
'.o Better Than Fines in
Traffic Cases.
By CAPT. MILTON ID. SMITH,
Traffic Bureau, Police Department.

By CAPT. MILTON d. SMITH,
Traffic Bureau, Police Department.
There are various ways Of killing a
populace; by deliberate, cold-blooded
murder; by pestilence, famine, floods,
etc. There were SO deaths by vio-
ience, mostly by firearms In the Dis
trict of Columbia, during the fiscal
year ending June 80, 1884, termed
murders. OF these murders, 78 were
cleared" by the Police Department,
that is in 78 cases, persons were ar
rested and held for the grand jury
action, in six others the murderers are
known and have been indicted but
have not yet been apprehended. This
Is a very good record for any police
department.
Still when Mr.. Average Citizen picks
up his daily paper and reads, 1.-TWO
Murdered in Holdup," 'Housebreaker
Kills Citizen" or some similar head
line, he is shocked and is likely to
say. This is terrible; something
should be done about these muir
derers."
Well, from our records, something
Is being done, but what desire to
bring to your attention is the star
ting fact that, while deadly weapons
caused the deaths of 80 persons, dur
ing the same period of time, automo-
biles were responsible for the death Of
1876 persons. I contend that under
such a comparison, the automobile in
the hands of the careless or reckless
driver, is Just as much a deadly
weapon, as the revolver, or other
weapon.
Double Violent Deaths.
Now. although these deaths are al
most double the number of deaths
by violence" it Is very hard to arouse
public sentiment to the point where
something actually can be accom-
plished.
We read in the press such headlines
as Police to Stage Traffic Drives;
Courts to Inf1ict Severe Penalties on
Speeders":: "CitiZens Condemn Lack
of Traffic Enforcement" and so forth
and so on. Then what happens?
For a week or so every person un-
fortunate enough to be hailed into
court does receive a heavier SEN
tence" than usual, in open court;
later it is found that in numerous in
stances the heavy sentence meted
out in court" is set aside and either
the person is placed on probation"
or the execution" Of the sentence Is
suspended" and his personal bond
Is taken.
This must not be construed as a
criticism of the courts; it is merely q
recitation of what occurs almost daily,
not only in our own city, but through
out the nation. Then after a week or
SO of high-powered cooperation we
drift back into the humdrum Of "un-
concern"
Now as far as the so-called "trafhc
drives by police are concerned, there
Is no such a thing" honestly know
from years of experience, month in
and month out, arrests for speed and
reckless driving, run along fairly
equal; considering the law Of aver
ages. weather conditions and other
matters that must enter into such
JInI12S, OIlc 4Aku4C 60 4OA oAASocS eSAS~A
being analyzed are surprisingly con-
sistent. For example, let us take
through the three years OF 1882,
1888, 1884.
Record for Three Years
The record reveals the following:
1892, reckless driving, TAB: speed,
4,e10; total for all traffic violations,
63,568.
1888, reckless driving, $50; speed,
GAS; total for all traffic violations,
46,091.
1884, reckless driving. 724; speed,
1925; total for all traffic violations,
63,846.
The very slight variations in these
figures can be explained by such facts
as men being used for parades,