Evening star., 1941-11-08
DC. HeadsA|ter
Procedure in
Traffic Cases
City Counsel to Hold
Hearings if Injury
Or Damage Occurs

Preliminary hearings before
representative of the corporation
counsel's office in all traffic cases
involving property damage or per-
sonal injury, will be required, effec-
tive at once, under an order issued
today by Maj. Edward j. Kelly, su-
perintendent Of police, acting under
instructions of the Commissioners.
At the same time, Corporation
Counsel Richmond B. Keech was in
structed by the Commissioners to
draft a proposed amendment to the
District Traffic Act to eliminate the
present system of fines for multiple
speeding offenses and to substitute
system under which forfeiture of
collateral would be permitted where
the motorist was charged with
speeding not to exceed SO miles an
hour and to permit a higher fine
than can be levied now on a first
offense speeding case.
The latter move was suggested by
Judges of District Police Court pri-
marily as means of freeing police
officers from hours spent in court
and to lessen congestion Of cases IN
the Traffic Court.
ID. G. officials Complained.
District officials have complained
that entirely too many traffic cases
have been taken into court without
proper preparation of the evidence
| against the accused. The order will
mean that no longer may members
of the Accident Prevention Unit of
the Police Department-now re-
named the Accident Investigation
Unit-or any other police officer, take
| a traffic case into court, where prop
erty damage or personal injury is
| involved, without first going before
an assistant corporation counsel.
The representative of the corpora
ton counsel will determine whether
there are sufficient facts to warrant
issuance of "informations" or legal
citations. In effect, this will mean
establishment of the formerly
used preliminary hearing on this
type of case
Judges George Nelson and Hobart
Newman recently took the lead in
suggesting forfeiture systems for
/ speeding cases. The difficulty was
/ that forfeiture does not constitute
a conviction, and District officials
feared this would handicap the sys-
tenn of getting heavier punishment
/ for persons guilty of second or third
speeding offenses within year. 1t
is now believed a system can be de-
vised that will work.
Present Maximums.
Under the present law the maxi
mum fine for first speeding offense
within a year is S25: for a second
offense, maximum of 500, and for
a third or more, maximum of $500.
or 80 days. or both.
AS the amendment now is con-
templated. this system would be
eliminated from the law and there
would be stated maximum fine of
perhaps s100 for speeding offense
forfeiture of collateral being per-
mitted in cases where the speed was
not over so miles an hour. Gases in
volving speed over so miles an hour
would be regarded as reckless driv-
ing cases. Under this suggested new
system. the Commissioners would
work out graded system of mini
mum collateral requirements which
would be measured according to the
amount Of the excess speed, and
agents of the Commissioners would
be directed to check the records to
see whether more than one offense
had been committed within a year.
In cases of multiple offense. the
minimum collaterals would be
stepped up.