Evening star., 1938-01-16


reporters was inadequate, at best.
Everybody agrees, to be sure, that the
genuine drunk is an unsafe driver-but
nearly everybody disagrees on how To de-
eide when driver is drunk. The classic
Army rule says that a guy isn't tight
until he's lying on the ground hanging
on with both hands to keep from falling
off" Philadelphia police surgeon re-
Gently announced that you aren't drunk
II you can say, Susie and Sallie Sampson
sat in the SOUP" And so it goes.
And what do such tests prove? Well, in
New York recently a bus driver on a
holiday was arrested just before daybreak
one morning after a wild chase by a
ponce patrol car. The celebrant had
taken an ambulance from in front of a
hospital and was careening southwark on
Tenth avenue, with the gong going merrily,
When apprehended. His explanation was
That he wanted to take home friend
who didn't have taxi fare And he passed
the stock sobriety test in the station
house before being locked up!
Likewise. If you will go back few para
graphs you will notice that all of Heise's
and Halporn's subjects could pass the
rule-of-thumb sobriety tests, even when
plowing into cardboard boxes or putting
on the brakes for no reason at all.
Charge Is Often Changed.
But, suppose. for argument, that
suspect does fall down on some of these
tests and is adjudged intoxicated by the
arresting officer and his witnesses-yhat
happens then? Well either of two things
happens. In the first instance the driver
presently telephones Joe, who calls up
Jerry, who drops in to see Billie, who
has some influence" The wheels begin
70 move and by morning the charge has
oeen changed to reckless driving"
In the second contingency, it's too late
70 GO anything about the charge, so the
accused appears in court with smart
lawyer. From the witness stand it de-
VeIops that he made frequent use of a
mouth wash (as advised by his dentist).
His dazed condition and incoherent eib-
berish at the police station was due tn
Whack on the head in the Grassland the
pronounced alcoholic odor on his breath
was from the mouth wash
Such story, garnished with the feryent
eloquence OF an experienced trial lawyer.
usually does the trick With it are en-
ployed other crafty expedients-notably,
postponing the case over and over until the
police witnesses give up. Such tactics have
proved so effective that not long ago Mayor
La Grardia was moved to reprimand the
clty's magistrates publicly for their lax
work in drunken-driving cases in New York.
In folr-month period. the Mayor pointed
out, At arrests were made on this charge.
OF these, 100 were discharged: 3 got
suspended sentences: 26 were fined and Is
jailed. Only 165 cases had been disposed
Of, out of Alt.
A pretty anemic record, but a universal
one. And mind you, one which concerns
only the small proportion of drunken
drivers actually booked on drunken-driv-
ing charges!
Lately, of course, you've had a lot of
commotion in the papers from one section
or another where they are beginning to
deal severely with the drunken driver,
but usually you can take this with a grain
OF salt. Upon careful analysis it too Otter
develops that couple Of unfortunates, with
no important friends have been clapped in
Jail for 80 days or more and have had their
licenses revoked. But the big shots-the
socially and politically influential citizens
and their drunken sons and daughters
60 merrily on wrapping their cars around
trees and lamp posts.
Three Things Must Be Done.
What's to be done? Three things:
First. the public must be sold" the
truth that few drinks make any driver
a dangerous driver.
Second, we've got to stop being so tol-
Grant with the drunken drivers who get
caught.
Third, we must arrive at some accepted
standard for determining when driver
is dangerously under the influence of
liquor; standard that will hold up in
court.
We know how to do it, of course; the
obstacle is the legal profession, not medical
science. TIE be sure, any good doctor can
spot drunk in a routine examination, but
the difficulties here are manifold. The
basic one is that the doctor often doesn't
see the suspect until a half hour or more
after the accident, and his condition has
changed Another is that the doctors opin-
ion is subject to challenge in court.
The logical remedy-which has been
suggested by DR.. Moss of George Wash
ington University, DR.. Miles Of Yale, Dr.
Heise, now of the Columbia Hospital, Mil
waukee, and others-involves taking
small specimen of body fluid for chemical
analysis.
Technical details aren't necessary here
Sufficient to say that medical Investigators
agree on the percentage of alcohol in the
body fluids which indicates that a mans
brain is under the influence and his judg-
ment not reliable. Such facts give police
something definite to take into court.
Just how effective such help is has al
ready been demonstrated in this country.
When DR.. H. A. Heise was still In Penn
sylvania, he found that prior to the use
Of chemical tests in Fayette County IS
persons were accused of drunken driving
and only 38 per cent pleaded guilty or were
found guilty in the period of year.
In 100 subsequent (and successive) cases.
where urine tests figured, 81 of the de-
PENDANTS either pleaded guilty or were
found guilty; six others were adjudged mot
guilty" but directed to pay court costs, and
only seven were acquitted.