Medford mail tribune., May 03, 1959, Image 40

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In a unique
experiment, Indiana
state police use hid
den tape recorders to
study reactions of
traffic violators.
r . ' a . ib mm mm mm mm m r w--r,. X' dram mm
j """' The mike on the officer's belt is a valid witness. Ng '
by Chuck Corner
J
D These words of protest have probably been
uttered at one time or another by every American
who has ever driven a car.
If anyone ever doubted it, he can now be assured
that it's true. The Indiana state police have been
recording unknown to the drivers on-the-scene
conversations with persons stopped for traffic vio
lations. Since October, 1957, more than 1,000 such
interviews have been taped on miniature record
ers, and several conclusions about the motoring
public have been reached.
Not all motorists react the same, of course, but
they can definitely be typed. Some get defiant and
flinty-eyed, some become nervous, others bluster
and, contrary to popular belief, men are just as
talkative as women when trying to avoid an arrest
slip. But practically all drivers have one thing in
common: almost no one ever admits he's wrong.
In the 1,000 taped interviews, only five drivers
admitted to being at fault, accepted the ticket
without protest, and confessed he felt the officer
was doing a good job to safeguard the motoring
public on the highway.
The percentage of willful drivers motorists who
deliberately violate traffic laws is small. Unfor
tunately, death and injury statistics make no dis
tinction between deliberate infractions or mental
lapses by normally careful drivers.
Many motorists are the dreamer or preoccupied
type. To them driving becomes mechanical, and
their personal problems occupy their minds. These
can be dangerous like the trucker whose heavily
loaded vehicle was caught passing in the wrong
lane at 60 m.p.h. on deadly U.S. 20. Aghast, the
state trooper asked why.
"Oh, I've been worried," the trucker groaned.
"My best friend was killed yesterday."
"How?" asked the officer.
"In a truck crash!"
The most frequent offender is the irresponsible
motorist who generally believes himself to be a
superior driver and able to stay out of trouble. An
estimated 93 percent slip into this category at
least occasionally. And of this group, those who
drive after drinking are the biggest offenders.
A trooper stopped a weaving auto one night and
- found two inebriates in the front seat Both heat
edly denied they'd been drinking.
The officer, realizing he'd reached an impasse,
left his tape recorder in their car, then went to the
rear on the pretext of searching the trunk.
The two went on talking nearly five minutes,
discussing how to hide a whiskey bottle, with the
recorder whirring away. When confronted with
their own slightly off-center voices at the station,
the pair quickly confessed to drunken driving.
One man was arrested for speeding during his
lunch hour. He was hurrying to return to work
after getting an estimate on some body damage to
his car incurred in an accident the week before!
One of the largest single groups is the "con
man" category the person who hasn't commit
ted any wrong (he tries to convince police) and
attempts to avoid a ticket through his own clever
ness. It seldom works.
One interviewed motorist missed a turn in the
highway, traveled off the road, over an embank
ment, across 200 feet of loose sand beach, then 30
feet out into Lake Michigan where he just missed
a moored cruiser. State police estimated he couldn't
possibly have been going less than 100 m.p.h. The
bland-faced motorist said he was "only doing 20."
A school-bus driver, stopped for speeding while
carrying a load of children, fits into this slot, too.
He pooh-poohed the speeding charge for about five
minutes until he finally and inadvertently admit
ted: "I have been ahead of schedule all the way
today." He'd been wondering why, he said.
The blusterer frequently becomes charged with
attempted bribery, because of his taped voice.
One night an officer pulled a trucker over for
going 60 m.p.h. in a 45-mile zone. The trucker
started squirming and finally said, "Look, pal, it's
worth $10 if you'll cut the charge to 50 m.p.h. I've
got a tough boss. He'll sit still for 50, but I'll get
fired for 60."
"Are you trying to bribe me?"
"Call it what you like," the trucker muttered.
"The sawbuck is yours "
"No dice," said the officer, "and I've got news for
you: this talk is being tape recorded." He showed
the tiny mike.
"Oh, brother," the trucker groaned. "Me and my
big mouth "
During the entire series, only one driver has
questioned the troopers about the equipment.
Spying the tiny sleeve mike, he asked, "What's
that thing?"
"My hearing aid."
"Oh, sorry," he apologized.
The tapings have enabled police to come up with
several hints on how motorists can keep out of
i
Adaptable, the recording
unit fits snugly into a
jacket pocket (top) with
its wire leading to mike
on cuff (left), and it can
be set up for use in the
patrol car as seen below.
trouble on the nation's highways:
1. Obey traffic laws.
2. Concentrate on driving, not on personal prob
lems. You won't solve them at 70 m.p.h.
3. Don't become belligerent when stopped by a
trooper. He's merely doing his job. A much wiser
practice is trying to understand the policeman's
position. One motorist did this.
"Yes, sir," he told the trooper. "I appreciate
your stopping me. Why it was my own life I was
endangering. Thanks, officer."
. The amazed trooper was so shocked he let the
motorist go and without a ticket.
Only once has a recording backfired. An officer
brought the recorder home one night after making
an arrest of a woman driver. He played it back to
demonstrate to his new bride how the machine
worked.
The tape opened with the officer at the speeder's
car, politely explaining .the offense and asking her
for her driver's license. Soon, in a sultry Marilyn
Monroe voice, the woman said, "Why not get in my
car? It's warmer and very comfortable."
Then dead silence!
"You know," the officer said, "I had a heck-of-a-time
explaining to my wife that I just happened to
run out of tape at that point!"
4
Family Weekly, May 3, IfSf