Evening star., 1935-01-01
New Deal for Capital I'M.
perative, Oldest Inhabi-
tants Told.
FIGHT ON RECKLESS
DRIVERS ADVOCATED
Reputation of City for Traffic
Dangers Will Hurt Tourist
Business, Smith Says.

Scoring the unprecedented traffic
death record of the past year here as
unnecessary sacrifice of human life
Ernest N. Smith, executive vice presi-
dent of the American Automobile As
sociation, today urged that authorities
"crack down on reckless drivers" and
suspend and revoke more drivers per-
mits.
Speaking before the Association of
Oldest Inhabitants, at the Old Union
Engine House, which is champion
of national representation for the
District of Columbia, Smith said:
IF the people of Washington had
the measure Of self-government that
other cities have and exercise, they
would never have permitted the hope
less f1oundering that characterized the
handling of our crucial traffic situa-
tion in recent months.
"A new deal for the National Capt.
tai is imperative" he declared, "a
new deal in which performance and
not mere promises must be the test
of the effectiveness of whatever new
measures we invoke and of the ade-
uuacy of our enforcement machinery.
He called for showdown" as tc
whether traffic deaths were to con-
tinue in 1885.
John Clagett Proctor. chronicler
Af r1raSpnfnd tn the
members a review of the past year
with his characteristic mixture OF
sober and comical comment on 1884
May Hurt Tourist Trade.
Smith warned the association that
the reputation of Washington as q
dangerous city to drive in" hao
spread through the country, and pre-
dicted that this bad repute' would
undoubtedly cause a loss OF tourist
travel and tourist business to the city
One of the important keys to the
solution of the traffic fatality prob
lem, said Smith. sis through greater
concentration on the habitually reck-
less driver"
There is no place on our streets"
he said, for this type of criminal. He
is wholly Indifferent to fine; he pays
no heed whatever to the voice Of
safety or the voice of conscience;
letters of warning from we'll inten-
toned traffic observers or 'vigilantes
mean less than nothing to him. There
are two methods of dealing with him
Jail, and the suspension Of his right
to drive.
Not enough use has been made of
the suspension and revocation power.
This applies not to Washington alone.
Much more use would be made of it
had we enacted the satety-responsl-
bility law which was placed before
Congress six years ago. A prominent
Washingtonion, the late Theodore P.
Noyes, was one of the trainers of this
legislation and one of its foremost
and most enthusiastic supporters. 1t
is most significant that in a year that
saw general rise in traffic fatalities
the q States with Safety-reSponSlbllity
laws had an incomparably better rec
ord than the States that do not have
such legislation, while the only six
States that showed decreases in fatali-
ties were safety-responsibility States"
Urges Campaign.
The A. A. A. official urged a COM
plete mobilization Of all civic and
business groups and interests behind
the Commissioners, the police, and the
Traffic Bureau in carrying out the
safety drive and traffic improvement
program recently announced.
"One of the problems heretofore" !"
he charged, has been the difficulty
OF applying a double standard in a
community containing a large number
of people in a position to demand
special favors and special considera-
tionS because of political, official or
social circumstances. If we are 10
have enforcement it must and should
be applied to all, to the highest and
the most humble, without fear and
without favor.
Smith reviewed the nine-point pro-
gram submitted to the District Com
miSsioners weeks ago by A. A. A. Dis
triCt of Columbia Motor Club.
Many of the reforms asked In this
program he said, have been advo-
Gated for years and had they been in
effect the lives OF dozens OF men,
women and children would have been
saved"
He cited the safety-responsibility
law, abolition of ticket fixing, more
uniform and stricter penalties by the
courts in the case of the proven reck-
less, better control of pedestrians and
more adequate provision for their con-
venience, periodic compulsory inspec-
ton of motor vehicle equipment under
official authority and more police per-
sonnel to permit a larger detail for
traffic duty and more time for ade-
ouate traffic training.
Prl.anlnra VIZ Nnuoc ,,rocidort Of tho