What Made Sammy Speed? (1957)

first Samy's father had resisted his son's request for permission to use the family car the issue had become quite a conflict between them until finally Mr Robertson reluctantly gave in on condition that Sam buy his own gas and oil this to teach him the value of money it was a sound and sensible obligation and he also earnestly admonished Sam to drive carefully and heed all the traffic rules but Mr Robertson's own driving habits left much to be desired and although he was a skillful driver many small collisions were avoided only by the alertness of the other drivers perhaps it was while watching his own father drive that Sam first got the unfortunate idea that a good driver can take chances and Mr Robertson said that Sam had been before me only once on a speeding charge I remembered the incident well Sam admitted going too fast and was willing to take his punishment but his father was quite outraged at the fact that the police haul in good clean-cut kids were driving a little fast especially when they're good drivers while the streets are filled with thieves and murderers it was a standpoint all too often encountered how much did it contribute to Samy's own attitude toward [Music] speeding and I recall that Samy's little brother Billy with Fierce Pride had said to me Samy can drive better and faster than anyone Billy was convinced that it was the other drivers that were the bad ones for Sammy never had any [Music] trouble [Music] it was clear to me that this obvious hero worship from his younger brother must have been important to Sammy perhaps making him take more Reckless chances and drive talked to some sami's friends in his attempt to become accepted and looked up to by his schoolmate Sammy had tried to impress them with his driving he sure could handle a car at any speed they told me but in spite of this most of them wouldn't ride with [Music] him and once Samy had earned his friend's admiration he thought his reputation for fast driving had to be kept up even his girl Wendy admitted that she thought his speeding manly and courageous and now she felt ashamed and guilty as she told me of the thrilling sense of power she had shared with Sammy speeding if only she had realized Wendy told me that recently one of Samy's close friends had been in a wreck and might be permanently crippled but Samy's attitude seemed to have been the usual it can't happen to me and his own Reckless speeding continued he took more chances than ever almost defiantly now and I was told how Sammy was scornful of cautious drivers and always told woman driver [Music] [Music] jokes I learned how Sammy used to boast of his recipe for beating a rap if stopped by a patrolman for traffic violation his trick was always to be extra courteous and polite act real remorseful and say Yes officer all the time it often worked Samy had actually been stopped several times and let go with a warning that the day before Samy's unfortunate mishap he had asked for a raise a request which it had been necessary to deny Sammy had been disappointed unduly so he felt and he'd thought the boy probably needed the extra money to meet his expenses with the car then the following day Saturday Sammy had picked up his girl to go for a ride [Music] [Music] n [Applause] though there was not just one reason for Sami speeding but many and they had brought us both here Samy's early difficulties with his father over permission to use the car might have caused his mind to look upon it as a symbol of adult power and superiority and speeding became a way of exercising this power and his own father's driving example and attitude might have given him the dangerous notion that it's all right for a good driver to take chances the admiration his speeding earned him from his little brother and the popularity with his friends at school must have been necessary and important for Sammy and subconsciously he must have wanted to make up in this way for other small failures and disappointments Sami speeding then was an emotional outlet and a tragically ill starred one for it was a compensation for feeling of insecurity and inferiority unhealthy thrill seeking immature Defiance of authority and a lack of a sense of responsibility as well as misguided attempts to show superiority these then were some of the reasons for Sami speeding there may have been others