Is Cranker of Car Operator? Judge Says No

Oakland, California, 1921

Because they disagreed as to whether cranking an automobile may be considered as operating one, the jurors which heard the evidence against John Trayler, charged with driving a machine while intoxicated, was out for more than two hours, although it required only about 45 minutes to hear the case.

Trayler, who was arrested at Eighth and Broadway, April 6 last, was seen cranking the car, at which time he was under the influence of liquor, but there was no evidence offered that he had driven the machine. The jury finally asked Judge L. S. Church, who presided, to explain just what was meant by operating a car. When he said cranking the engine was not operating the automobile and could not endanger anyone's life, except perhaps the cranker's, Trayler was acquitted.

—Oakland Tribune, Oakland, California, May 19, 1921, page 2.