Tacoma Police Launch War on Speeders
After receiving numerous complaints, the police department is arming officers with stopwatches to catch drivers breaking city speed limits.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Captain A. S. Read of the police department has supplied several of his plain clothes men with stopwatches, and violators of the auto speed law will be vigorously prosecuted in the future. The police have received a number of complaints recently about automobile drivers who exceed the speed limit. Today Chief Duley prepared a list of all chauffeurs who have been reported to him and instructed his men to watch for speed violations. Yesterday afternoon, immediately after the baseball game, a reckless driver shot his machine down 11th Street, the officers say, at the rate of 50 miles per hour. The officers took the car's number and arrested the owner today. He will have to face Judge Arntson this afternoon in police court without recourse to bail.
“A reckless driver shot his machine down 11th street... at the rate of 50 miles per hour.”
Early 20th-century traffic enforcement was just as contentious as modern debates over speed cameras and pedestrian safety. 11th Street, once a thoroughfare for reckless early motorists, is now a core part of downtown Tacoma's urban grid, reflecting the same ongoing struggle to balance rapid transit with public safety.
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