THE ROAD BANDIT.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20225, 1 May 1931, Page 4

THE ROAD BANDIT.

CLEVER WILES TO ROB THE MOTORIST, (By ALBERT L. < CL f ° I^ H ,;- 1 ia l ' Jd "Weekly Scotsman. ) All over the worid the motorist becomes increasingly the victim of the road-bandit. The road-bandit must be stamped out. It is easy to laugh news of modern "highwaymen," but these gentry of the road do exist _ today, and their numbers are mcreaa.ng. A year or two ago the only roadbandit at all common in Britain the neat young man-clean auG.wellpatched, but shabby and down who begged a lift from you.. He told a pitiful tale of having trained the country in search of employment and it was a hard-hearted motorist .who l'ai.Ud to slip a half-crown into hj» hand when roads parted. Immediately the young man would ha" a car going in the opposite direction, and tell the same tale. It became so highly remunerative a business that the inevitable overcrowding cropped up. The tost time the motorist heard the tale lie believed it, the second time he grew the third time he realised that he had been robbed. . Most of these plausible young bandits worked a pitch of their own, travelling backwards and forwards over a stretch of ten miles or so of country many times during the day. A favourite variation of the talc was the seaman's story—of baggage all aboard a ship, which had left without the hand concerned because he had arrived late; being compelled to tramp to the port for lack of a train fare. A Favourite Trick. Lately a very much more serious kind of robbery on the highway lias become disturbingly prevalent. This is nothing more nor lens Than a variation of the favourito negro trick of lying across a narrow road and gripping the motorist by tho throat when he stops his car and gots out to .<ee what is the trouble. A motorist driving nlong ono ioaq recently was startled to see the body of a woman by the kerb. Ho stopped the car at once, and walked over to it. As he approached, he saw two men eyeing him through tho hedge. He returned to his car and drove off. Motorists should be wary when they see strange objects left beside the road inviting inspection. It is an unhappy fact that the growing prevalence of this form of banditry is embittering motorists. There are many to-day who will never give a lift to anybody —or even stop for anybody but a uniformed constable; The bandit who wishes to stop a car with a view to robbery often arms himself with a red lamp, waves this as a danger signal until he brings the car to a standstill, and then leaps on to the running board. An' attempt at robbery was made against a woman motorist in this way recently. . A motorist of public spirit and ordinary courage would not normally see a person unconscious by the roadside, or in distress, without stopping. The instinct of nearly every motorist, too, is to offer a lift to- a wayfarer whenever he can do so. All will slow at the sight of a red light. A Dangerous Situation. If abuse of motoring courtesy grows more rife, a very dangerous situatibr? may be created. Motorists may gro-ty wary of stopping when they rightly should do so. They will be more than usually cautious on l<wly roads, where, undoubtedly, they might be of. maximum aid to a person genuinely in distress. . / That is why the new highway rob' bery must bo stamped out once apa for all. . Car-stealing, too, is a more serious crime than many people imagine. The stolen car covers up the tracks of the criminal and gives him a wider scope for his operations than he would otherwise enjoy. The criminal who begins by stealing a ear is recognised by the police as a criminal of the most dangerous type. Every motorist should take every precaution to prevent the theft of his car. And he should not be too haphazard about the aid he offers on the road.