Evening star., 1935-08-31
ROAD PERIL SHOWN.
BY MAGISTRATES.
Two Living Along Defense
Highway Cite Scores
of Accidents.
By q STAFF Correspondent of The Star.

BY staff Correspondent OF The Star.
BLADENSBURG, Md, August 81
Believing the time opportune to crys-
taIlize public sentiment in favor of
widening the Defense highway, magis-
trates living along the road today
opened their records to show how
deadly the present route is.
In addition to the IA fatalities which
have occurred in the last Is months
on the road appropriately known
locally as death highway" Magistrate
Henry O'Neill's docket shows SIS seri-
GUS accidents in which one or more
persons were injured, occurred on this
end of the road in the last six months.
Louis Gundling of Lanham, the
only other magistrate living along the
road, has approximately the same
number of accident cases on his
docket.
Police Credited.
While both believe more police are
needed to patrol the road, they credit
the work of State and county officers
with preventing many crashes.
1.-TWO county officers made 10 ar
rests in 20 minutes on recent Sun
day afternoon" Judge O'Neill said.
Like most of the cases brought be-
fore me, they were for passing on
curves or other forms of reckless
driving or for drunken driving. Un-
doubtedly many accidents have been
prevented by such arrests"
1.-The type of accidents we have
on the Defense highway proves con-
clusively to me that the road itself
Is to blame and should be widened
and Strengthened Most of the acci-
dents occur on curves and are due
either to blind turns, narrow roadbed
or slippery highway surface, whereas
most of the accidents on the Balti-
more boulevard are due to speed"
Handles Many Gases.
Since he succeeded his father, the
late Hugh O'Neill, as magistrate here
two years ago, Judge O'Neill has
handled more than 800 cases, about
rs per cent of them involving traffic
violations on the Defense highway.
He is an active member of the
County Federation of Citizens Asso-
Citations, and was instrumental in hav7
ing that body demand improvement of
the Defense highway.
In the five years he has been a
magistrate, Judge Gundling has be-
come thoroughly familiar with the
highways death traps" through act
ing as coroner in numerous fatal acci-
dents, including the one in which five
persons were killed on August 20.
He believes the highway should be
widened not only as safety precau-
tion, but also to make it adequate for
the traffic which uses it.
Although the worst traffic jams
occur at Bladensburg, the road often
becomes congested In front of my
home. five miles from there" Judge
Gundling said.
More Troopers Needed.
He added that some Sundays this
Summer the jam extended practically
the entire distance from Priest Bridge
to Bladensburg, causing State troopers
to start search for accidents which
they thought had caused the conges-
ton.
Both magistrates believe from four
to six State troopers are needed on
the highway every Sunday. At pres
ent only two are assigned to it. County
officers can help little because they
are not equipped with, and most of
them cannot operate, motor cycles.
Their presence on the road merely
adds another automobile to the con-
gestion, the magistrates think, al
though their services are helpful in
case of accident.
Until the State police department
can show us another road where their
men are more needed, think Prince
Georges citizens are justified in de-
inanding more patrolmen on the De-
fense highway" Judge O'Neill said.