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1952 am comm:
mmm BEACH
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The subject which fetish to discuss with you this morning is
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one that hes always interpsted me. As a boy, and even now I
lettuce, I thrilled to.the stories or Bret Harte, Rebert Louis
Stevenscn; Zane Grey. Jengs'l'enimore Qooper, and otherswho wrote
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or exciteheht and Ginger. "ihe poems to which I respoaed were not
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the sweet cadences or Browning end~8helley, but the_thundering passages
ot.x1pling, or the suspense-peeked verses of Alfred 3596!:
"its hand was s_torrent of darkness among the gusty trees,
The icon was s ghostly galleoh tossed upon elm seas,
The rest! use salmon or moonlight over, the purple soar,
And the hishueynon came ridinur-ridingutridins,
The mum/nan cone riding, mite the old in door."
You will recill that the romance uhidh Noyes tolg or ended yith
the death of the 3113mm. he was shot spun, like a dog;-_by the
red-coats whose duty it was to preserve the king's peace.
The king's peace essrirst invoked, historicallp, for the protection
of people traveling the four-reeds leading to the King's castle, then
to every road leading to those four roads, and then to all roads
' throughout the kingdom. The red-costs were not invariably successful,
2 travelers.
The threat to life and limb and property on the highways today
has shiftegl from the man in ambush (the highuaymsn) to the [pun behind
the wheel: from the hit-end-run robber to the hit-end-run driver: from
the savage who ran amuok with his tomnhswk and arrow, driving the
pioneer in his covered wagon from the highways to the west, to the
citizen who runs smock with s flourish to his high-powered car.
Den't misunderstnd me. I on not trying to picture to you the
motorist: or this day who kills from negligence and the commission
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E of :nipdesueaors es being of the some moral-strip, as the highwayman or
'the savagei 'But the rage are appallingly evident that, however free
the traffic-k113i. silly be fromhermrui intent, the results which he
Tchieves are for more 'devsstating than those of his felonious predecessors
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t. ; There are, or course,- two tpsic ways in which the conduct of the
, modern highwaman near be Wed:
. 1. He be persuaded, by_3?1.zeation, to a sense or social
responsibility for the safety soothers, ,andhto e'teener realization
of the destination mob lies his geothpedal. u
2. se may to forced to tighter. mmoew the
safety let others he desires to 'd .eo .
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In Florida, am: _, m the achie o: last objective,
we are considerably .' ered by a failure 'or onrgetate
-. adequately provide 1 traffic regulation on the public May.
. Conside pedestrian. is no peevision whatsoever
3. webmazirabat; zones or crosswalk for his safety on our statute
hooks. Indeed, there is no regulation concerning him. He can, with
9 perfect legality, walk down the highway, on either side, :n his hands,
. getting an suede-dosh View of where he's been rather than a right-side
vies or where he '3 going.
Consider the railroad, which everyone would recognize as creating
.a terrific truffle hazard whereVer it crosses the 111311;. There is
; almost no regulation on that subject.
{ The lax does require the erection of warning signs at crossings
designated as dangerous, and does require a motorist to some to a full
stop at least ten feet before such a crossing, but there is no provision
for wanting signal lights, for keeping the right-of-way clear on either
" side of the crossing to provide forelear vision, nor for gates or
3 I watch-en'megardiese or not: dangerous a crossing may be.
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ahere .18 no special provision on our statute books for bicycles
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or motor-scooters, altW they are clearly in a class by themselves
and require special treatment. '
. Our few laws relating to injury highway traffic signs were for
the most part adopted in 1668, and are limited to detour signs,
milestones, nileboards or Probably we call upon
some general principles or law wherever the}th of modem
day traffic control devices is invalvsdrbutg-{t to enforce
lens so emcee outline. r.
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\ie We nQrovisicns or our. atatutcs'which 1; stopping at
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through I :1 p. k. 3,.
the Oppmitioa .roeampmvingm statutes
relative to trair antral and improvement are sndllfss:
I the {afielatui should satisfy itself, by "whatever means necessary,
afne hi! 'or drunkoneer or other tests for the determination
of intoxicatien 01' those involved in traffic accidents or
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violations, and than spell out clearly in the statutes the place which
these tests anal; occupy in the apprehension andiconvietgbn or acquital
or those who have been tested. The Governor might well seek from the
Supreme Court an Opinion, to be relied upon by him in making his
recommendations to the Legislature, as to whether or not a citizen is
entitled to refuse these tests under the constitutional innunity from
giving evidence against himself.
The Legislature should also consider the extent to which it should
go in requiring safety accessories to meet certain minimum standards
or quality; the possibility of requiring a brake on each wheel or
every vehicle; and the possibility of requiring a certain minimal
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thiclclieaa (mbber on than in -the"1nterest or safety from the
I standpoint of blasts the hazard: 01 moto;=vetucles parked on
highwayt because or ats. ~ k
13? Finally; 'tha reg-lam should Mimi-the desirability of a
Sign: all garages to We 01 males brought in for
'epam, showing signs or having been g: g Meaty-w. struck by a
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z. . 5m oyz'these I have exception
t J or safety dees: on'.;Ronobea,_fauld require the
acmenditure oi" any large or my t8; or expansion
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or any enforctbt agencies. But they-um nil aliproved tools in
{the hands oz '
9:31- nt agencies we ploy; they would place
{Improved atad for care conduct in or all
iottizens; weal? cover dangemus situations mic? covered
by existipg aw drafteq in many cases in another-ay wen the
twiiwt'able was a negligible factor in our society.
c. t vcbly they might reduce haurance premiums; they might
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new a ; and although I hesitate to mention to mmricant an
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ar'gument, that life might be your: or mine. I
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