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Show ! UTAH DRIVERS GET BY WITH MURDER (Beginning a series of articles by Jack Goodman) You can kill with near impunity in Utah if a motor vehicle is the fatal weapon. Factual proof of this state of affairs, one hardly calculated to induce law-breaking motorists to mend their ways, can be found in the files of Utah's Drivers' License Bureau, where the harassed staff members strive without much success to maintain (Editor's Note: This is the first of a series of art.cles poin-ting up the continuing seriousness ser-iousness of Utah's traffic safety situation and means by which the problem may be al'evi-ated). I up-to-date records on the men, i women and teen-agers who have mowed down pedestrians, caused multiple fatalities by high speed driving, or killed and maimed others by driving while drunk. Take the case of Motorist X. Records show that he was on the wrong side of the road and moving mov-ing at excess speed when party to a fatality last February Prior to this fatal crash Mr. X had j been in two accidents involving j speeding. . Driver Fined $15 I Since the February killing (this same driver has been convicted con-victed of speeding through Leh . Reseult? A $15 fine on the latter lat-ter conviction - but no action taken in the fatal crash . In January, Mr. K, driving while drunk, rammed a parked vehicle in Sevier County, caus-? caus-? death directly attributed fay the investigating officer to ! K's "obvious intoxication. This driver had no license, there's been no action on involuntary invol-untary manslaughter charges says License Bureau Director Howard P. Leatham. "We don t know whether there s been a trial You know the courts often fail to report convictions to us." Mr. Y Paid S25 Take Mr. Y of Salt Lake City. He's 73. had thiee previous accidents ac-cidents (since 1945) before he failed to halt at a stop sign and killed another motorist this Feb-ruaiy. Feb-ruaiy. Mr. Y paid a penalty of j25 and is still driving. The truck driver involved in fatalities No. 85 and 86 this year was ca the wrong side of the road when the crashes came. He was arresetd on charges of having hav-ing an expired driving license. No other action! For the month of March, despite de-spite 20 deaths in 11 fatal crashes, no arrests are listed on the records of siurviving drivers involved. For April the count shows 12 killed in an even dozen accidents, but no arrests. In May, when 16 accidents took 23 ' (Continued on Page Four) Here's More Aboui UTAH DRIVERS Continued from Page One) j lives, there were two arrests on Mcense violation charges. 2S Died in June Traffic off cers took somewhat some-what more drai-tic action in June, I a month that saw 26 deaths and ! five arrests. j A Moab driver who was speed-I speed-I in).", passing on a hfl and un- licensed, was charged with involuntary in-voluntary manslaughter in connection con-nection with 1952's 96th fatal-ity. fatal-ity. One motorist involved in a pecdestiian death was arrested "for failure to keep proper lookout." look-out." A driver who fell asleep it the wheel and caused a death near Provo was arrested on a "no license" charge. Charges are pending against a 15-year-old lad who hit a 2-yea: 2-yea: old, and against the motorists motor-ists who took lives No. 104 and 105. Mcanwhfe a driver con cerne-d in fatalities No. 109 and No. 110 was charged with "traveling "trav-eling too fast for conditions" and faces a lawsuit. Answers Elusive What can drivers speeding, drunken, asleep or 0fllo expect after being at tially responsible for ih st Par. of their neighbors' the bereaved expect in , recompense if not rtlrih ,r,lls of The answers are not come by, due to lack of ?5'1' agency reporting of fe n,ral of manslaughter cases f'' f ic trials growing out of w ltil accidents. Blame for t?j,gK n part with county cour Ve who move slowly i at c'erlR report to state author part with inability of "e,s; ' Utah Highway Patrol and "S 1,1 ing offices to tally J Cens what reports are obtaft in large measure with tv, 31,(1 quated jushce-of-the pea!f anu tern under which only tw of Mans approximately 1 -ui-al just.ces regularly Licenses Suspended Many but not all dH who have survived fatal , , for which theyborcTh IbSte y: bjame, have lo.t hcenses temporal y , present, 1,260 licenses are pended or revoked, but in m cases such motorists can ohiT5' "limited" licenses valXt e Purpose andother-ncJ' sary driving." ucs' |