58 ADDRESSES AND STATE PAPERS

The Governor said his legislative efforts for improved highway
safety will be coupled with a directive to State Police and to trial
magistrates for a more vigorous enforcement of traffic laws. "Stronger
laws will be meaningless without stronger enforcement efforts, " he
said.

The proposals in the administration package include:

Motor Vehicle Inspection — A broadening and strengthening of
the present law, now restricted to transfers of used automobiles and
new registrations of used passenger vehicles in Maryland from other
states, to include all motor vehicles registered and titled in the State.
New cars will have to be inspected for safety features before they are
sold by the dealer, and inspection and certification will be required
after two years of operation before a car is registered for the third year
of its life. The third year is generally thought by experts to be the
point when serious mechanical deterioration begins.

The increased inspection would be administered through the present
system now under supervision of the Maryland State Police.

Implied Consent — Present law gives a suspected drunken driver
the option of a chemical test for alcohol content in the blood, but it
is not effective in cutting down on this major contributing factor in
traffic fatalities. The proposed law would require the test — by either
breath or urine, but not blood — of any suspected drunken driver as
a condition for continuing his privilege to drive.

"State Police inform me that one of every two drivers killed in
automobile accidents in Maryland last year was under the influence
of a substantial amount of alcohol, " the Governor said. This was
determined by blood tests which are made automatically in the case
of such fatalities. A strong, workable law is necessary if the police are
to have the means of ridding the highways of this menace to the
safety of innocent people. "

Reexamination under the Point System — The bill will require
that any driver whose license has been suspended under the point
system be reexamined — physically, by written test and by behind-the-
wheel testing — before the license is reinstated.

Periodic Reexamination of Drivers over 65 — Federal standards
will require a reexamination of all drivers every four years and those
over 65 every two years. "It is my feeling that the provision for older
drivers should be implemented now, " the Governor said. "Many per-