.D 

 l.S 



J 



uvma versus DRINKING 



d 



By C. M. Seagraves 



y^N THI- May issue of the RHC- 

 l/l ORI) is shown the results of 

 \^_y a Highway Accident Clause Sur- 

 vey that is beini; conducted by tiiis de- 

 partment. I'arm Bureau members liave 

 selected as tlie second principal cause for 

 highway accidents drivini: while 



intoxicated." 



Here is a situation that will ^'ct out 

 of hand very soon unless immediate ac- 

 tion is taken to correct it. The effect 

 of alcohol on the human r.iind and body 

 is too well known to need detailed com- 

 ment here. It has been the subject of 

 several recent investigations conducted by 

 unbiased observers trained in scientific 

 methods, so the results are free from 

 prejudice. Vi'e find the opinion uni- 

 formly expressed by these observers that 

 the drinking of intoxicating liquors, even 

 in the most moderate degree, adversely 

 affects driving ability. 



The State of Illinois retjuires the re 

 porting of all accidents in which death 

 or personal injury results. After careful 



investigating they determine the apparent 

 prnicipM iMisc for each accident. On 

 the official state record we find that the 

 number of accidents caused by drinking 

 drivers is stcacjily increasing. Here arc 

 the figures, by months, issued by the Di- 

 vision of Highways, on the number of 

 accidents caused bv drinking drivers in 



THE DRIVER OF THIS CAR IS DEAD .... 

 so is the young lady who was with him. Their lives might have been 

 spared, had he slackened his speed with nightfall. 



JUNE, 1937 



These figures substantiate what many 

 of us have observed, namely, the number 

 of cars parked, almost any evening, 

 around taverns, many of which are miles 

 from town and are not especially noted 

 for their food; the increasing number of 

 bad accidents we hear about that occur 

 after dark and which cannot be wholly 

 accounted for bv the {x\A. that nicht driv 



A Drivers License Law will 



Help Put the Drunken Driver 



Out of Circulation 



ing has more inlierent dangers than day- 

 NkIii driving; and bv the close escapes 

 manv of us have experienced in night 

 driving caused by operators who were 

 partially blind from one cause or an- 

 other. It seems reasonable to suspect 

 that the cars wc see around iKjiior dis- 

 pens.iries are driven home some (ime 

 during the night because by morning 

 most of them are gone. It would also 

 seem that the number of licjuor bottles 

 observed on the right of way do not get 

 there through any power of locomotion 

 of their own. 



Legal Difficulties 



llic legal difficulties of proving that 

 a driver has been drinking are many un- 

 less the driver was so manifestly in- 

 toxicated at the time of the accident that 

 ( 1 ) several people observed his condi- 

 tion, and (2) his defense attorney is not 

 able to raise a reasonable doubt in the 

 minds of the )ury that his clients ap- 

 parently dazed condition was due to the 

 fright or physical injury received in the 

 accident, or that the smell of alcohol was 

 caused by some medicine that the ac- 

 cused had taken to alleviate the pain of a 

 toothache, or tor any other cause, fur- 

 ther, m many ca.ses. especially in rural 

 non-collision accidents, the investigating 

 officer does not have the opportunity of 

 ijuestioning tlie driver until many hours 

 after the actual cxcurrence of the acci- 

 dent. In this case even if (he driver *as 

 under the influence of licjuor. and the 

 officer suspecteil it, he would be unable 

 to report the accident as to its true prob- 

 able cause. So, instead of having a total 

 picture here that stems much worse than 

 It IS. we finil that the figures give the 

 ■i,'! i/iniinii/in effect to the situation and 

 in all probabililv do not reflect more 

 than half of the accidents attributable 

 to alcohol. 



We may accept without cjuestion the 

 theory that it is none of our business who 

 drinks or what he drinks, and that it is 

 still less our business to determine 

 whether or not licjuor has its place ^n 

 gracious living. But what /.( our busi- 

 ness is to determine who is operating a 

 motor vehicle on the public thorough- 

 fares, and if he is fit to drive such ve- 

 hicle on the same thoroughfares that all 

 of us and our children art forced to use 

 It would seem to be ever)bodys obliga- 

 tion, as well as privilege, not only ta re- 

 port any cases of drunken driving he 



I ( 'n::NuiJ 'jH p.ts,e 



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