Evening star., 1935-12-22
Many Traffic Law Changes
Urged to Improve Safety
Sponsor of First Alpine Bus Service, Dele
gate to Conference Here, Offers Pro-
gram to Curb Recklessness.

inspection of motor vehicles Is COM
pulsory, while others insist only on
inspection Of brakes; again, other
States restrict themselves only to the
inspection Of motor buses, while in
many States there is still no regula-
ton regarding inspection Of motor
cars.
AS to distances to keep apart on
highways, Alabama for instance, il I
am informed correctly, prescribes 100
feet for trucks to keep apart, Indiana
$50 feet, Illinois 500 feet; in some of
the States no specific regulation re-
garding space to be kept between mo-
tor vehicles has been issued. Similar
conditions can be found to exist with
regard to dimensions and weights Of
trucks and trailers, thereby greatly
handicapping Interstate highway
traffic.
WHEREAS In some States opera
w tors licenses are issued only after
a thorough examination, in other
States no particular proof as to drivers
ability to operate car or Knowledge
Of traffic regulations is required in
order to obtain an operators license.
No man or woman should be permitted
to drive car without being the right
full owner Of properly issued oper-
ator's license. But only too often are
there cases where some of our reckless
drivers, deprived of their license on
account of some fragrant violation,
continue to drive cars, using license
obtained under some other name by
some other person. 1t seems, there
fore, advisable that to each operators
license there should be attached the
operators photo, and would even go
a step further and say also his or her
fngerprints. People who have moth
ing to be afraid Of will not mind hav-
ing their fingerprints appear on their
drivers license.
Speaking Of licenses, I believe 1t
worth mentioning that the fiimsy pa
per material used Throughout the
States for owners and drivers licenses
should be replaced by more durable
and more practical material, such as
linen fabric, as found IN general use
in most of the European countries.
Signs along the highways obstruct-
ing the drivers view or placed near
dangerous crossings, thereby distract
ing the drivers attention, are often
the cause of serious accidents. Uni
form, reasonable measures pertaining
to regulations thereof are advisable
With exception Of one or two States
there is no law for compulsory insur-
ance. Consider that daily thousands
of people are the victims of careless
and irresponsible drivers, without hav-
ing any redress for possible death,
injury or property damage incurred.
This is certainly o matter Of great
importance to the public, which re-
quires prompt action.
President Roosevelt, aware Of the
great importance of the highway &C.
cident problem, expressed himself re-
Gently in a message of encouragement
to the Twenty-fourth Annual Safety
Congress, held at Louisville, to the
effect that he pledges the necessary
assistance and proper cooperation on
the part of the Federal Government
to any constructive movement which
will save lives and prevent injuries
on the highways. The President also
hinted that unless the death toll Is
abated, State and Federal Govern.
ments may have to assume control
of the public safety problem.
IT MAY be well to note that in some
of the European countries the
government sends out special appeals
to the public, pointing out the need
of becoming safety-conscious and re-
questing all users of streets and high
ways to obey its traf1c regulations.
In Great Britain the government
has Of late gone all the way to print
some 100000 highway codes, 50
that they can be distributed to every
family for the low cost Of l penny.
We know that many of the fatal ac-
cidents on our streets and highways
are caused by reckless drivers, So
called road hogs and habitual CHS
elers.
It has been reported that Berlin
has a system of control whereby
chronic violators of the traffic law
have their cars decorated with huge
yellow cross to identify them for what
they are. Motorists so stigmatized
will naturally be subject to close
scrutiny and will likewise be subject
- ,1oriN-Jfn nLank-Y,yne ~, tia Y,orf NJ
the police department. Minor Of
tenders will similarly have yellow cir
cles decorating their cars. The effect
of this naturally is to subject the
offenders to instant recognition by
policemen, who can cut short any
arguments.
In my opinion, the benefits Of this
scheme aee subject to severe draw
backs which demand Q modification 70