* * * * A " SAFETY Scnoor.."
Minneapolis has introduced a new method, which may he adopted by other American cities, for dealing with the reckless motorist. Certain offenders brought before the local Traffic Court are now offered the choice between imprisonment or a heavy fine and a course of instruction in a " safety school " established under the supervision of the Court. Experience has shown that the majority of offenders brought before the Court are young and that most of the offences are due to incompetent driving, failure to keep cars in safe running order and ignorance of safety rules and traffic laws. Instruction appeared to promise more fruitful results in preventing further accidents than punish- ment by fine or imprisonment. Consequently. the safety school was instituted, in co-operation with the local automobile club and an industrial institute, and the Court was empowered, within its discretion, to give offenders an opportunity to attend it. The initial course of instruction takes five weeks to complete, lectures and practical demonstrations being given at intervals. Traffic court fines are suspended while students are under instruction, but failure to attend regularly brings imposition of the fine or confinement to the city workhouse, to which, also, second offenders are committed. At the workhouse, instruction is compulsory. At the end of their course of instruction, whether voluntary or otherwise, students are required to pass suitable tests. Some five hundred drivers, men and women, have gone through the courses so far. The system is reported to be producing excellent practical results.
Previous page
