From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for Oct. 20, 1971:

Effective with the 3 to 11 p.m. shift today, Lawrence policemen were to begin issuing municipal court citations to all persons involved in vehicular collisions. Previously, the officer issued a citation only to the person or persons whom they deemed guilty of a traffic violation. The new policy placed the responsibility for deciding which driver was in error on the municipal court judge, rather than on the officer. One of the reasons behind the change, according to Capt. Merle McClure, was the hope that if people knew they would have to go to court and be forced to defend themselves, they would drive more safely. For the first nine months of 1971, police had investigated 1,410 wrecks, an increase of 15 above the same period the previous year. For comparison, in 1955, no fatalities had occurred in 826 crashes, 75 of which had been collisions.