| OCR Text |
Show yJERE YOU MAY CROSS STREET Motor Club Cites Need of Laws That Establish Responsibility. rjnnierltorlous personal Injury suits arlslns out of tho use of the automobile,, automo-bile,, clutter up the courts and cuuse many motorists a great deal of anxiety, anx-iety, ln n"nPi'ois cases a financial finan-cial ' loss, according to the accident prevention department of the Chicago Motor club. This department of the club Is now engaged In an Investigation Investiga-tion of personal Injury cases, and it fln(3 tlnit these Injuries which are listed In the records kept by various cities range from real Injury such as broken limbs, to the rather vague Injuries In-juries listed as "shock." In many cases n shock Is a real Injury while ln others It Is flimsy ln character. "A person Injured very slightly has no trouble In bringing suit," continues the bulletin, "and many suits are started because of the rather widespread, wide-spread, but erroneous opinion, that any injury caused by an automobile Is In Itself suflioient grounds upon which to base a suit and obtain recovery. Injustice to Drivers of Cars. "Motorists who have become Involved In-volved In an accident are frequently astonished to find suit brought against them, when they know that they have in no way contributed toward the ar cident. There is nothing in law, however, how-ever, to prevent anyone from bringing suit, and this has led to the cluttering clutter-ing up of our court calendars and to Injustice to the drivers of automobiles. automo-biles. "When a motorist is sued he must file the proper legal papers in answer to the plaintiff's declaration, and he Is forced to defend his case even though he knows the plaintiff Is entirely en-tirely In the wrong. "The cost of procurrng the attendance attend-ance of his witnesses, lawyers' fees, and the fees of court reporters falls upon the defendant In such a case, and even if he is given a favorable verdict he finds himself considerably out of pocket. "When the general public begins to realize that an injury is not in itself sufficient grounds for recovery, but that the liability of the driver must be shown, there will be fewer suits of this nature entered in our courts. Attempts Made to Defraud. "In some cases, of course, a deliberate delib-erate attempt Is made to defraud the car owner. The Injured or supposedly Injured persons are willing to gamble that the sympathies of the jury will be with them, and that an adverse verdict ver-dict will not be found ln the higher courts. "The remedy lies In the enactment of laws that will definitely establish the responsibility of pedestrians. The railroads have a different condition to face than hns the car owner. The only concern of the railway is to avoid willful, will-ful, wanton neglect. The man who ventures upon a railroad right of way Is a trespasser, but the motorist ln the street has no right of way. Our laws were framed when our population popula-tion was a pedestrian one, but today with 17,500,000 automobiles In use on our highways a more equitable distribution distri-bution of responsibility is being demanded. de-manded. . "This demand does not consider allowing al-lowing the driver of a motor vehicle to travel at any rate of speed he may see fit to use, but rather It considers establishing certain places where the pedestrian may cross a street and be within bis rights, and others where he would be a trespasser. Crossing the street ln the middle of the block Is the direct cause of numerous accidents, and it should be made an act of trespass. tres-pass. When such laws are enacted there will be fewer unjust suits brought into our courts." |
