New-York tribune., 1900-01-24
HIGHWAY ARROGANCE.

We discussed the other day one phase of the
changed conditions of street traffic namely the
need Of additional service commensurate with
the increased size and capacity of streetcars.
That Is by means the only phase Of the
general subject, and perhaps not the most
important. In almost every department of
street traffic, excepting the chief of all.
pedestrianiSm conditions have changed and
changing, and there is need Of Correspondingly
changed regulations for the comfort and safety
of the public. In the of service on street
cars, as we have seen, the need is an increase
of effectiveness. In other cases there is equal
need Of restraint of 'pernicous activity"
The increase of speed and added conscious
ness Of strength have led In many quarters 10
an offensive arrogance of manner and to dan
gerous disregard of the rights and Of the safety
Of others, The gripman of the cable car or the
motorman of the electric car is n far different
being from the driver OF the old horsecar. Con
sciOus Of the almost nvulnerable strength OF
the huge vehicle he controls he dashes along
with such disregard Of lighter vehicles and
pedestrians as his predecessor never dreamed
Of He acts upon the principle that his com
pany owns the street and its cars have absolute
right of way; all other travellers on the highway
are trespassers. who must look out for them
selves and who are only served Just right when
they get run down.
Nor is he the only offender The drivers of
trucks, express wagons and similar vehicles
exercise similar arrogance toward all who are
weaker than they. 1t seems often To be their
delight to menace with their ponderous wheels
the slighter frames of pleasure vehicles. Es-
pecially is such the case when they get upon
such a highway as Fifth-ave. or one Of the
parkways, where they have no right to be.
There they thunder along in lordly pride, crowd
ing all less formidable vehicles into the gutter
with menace of crash and wreck AS for the
mere pedestrian, their contempt for him is su-
preme. Nothing pleases them more than to
come to halt directly across a thronged street
crossing instead Of stopping a few feet back
from 1t, thus compelling pedestrians to make
detour around them through the mud.
The same spirit appears to have entered into
the engineers Of the automobile vehicles of
various kinds which are now becoming so nu-
merous. Whether this is due to the speed of
these vehicles, to their increased facility for
ramming others, to the intrinsic ugliness of
their appearance, to all these and other
causes combined, do not know. But 1t is
quite evident that the average engineer of one
of them deems himself much superior to a mere
driver of horses, and considers that his vehicle
has an indisputable right of way over all others.
The clang of his gong seems not merely TO an
nOunce his coming, but most imperIOuSly to COM
mand all other occupants of the highway to get
Of the earth before him. He heeds nothing,
fears nothing, regards nothing, his own
supremacy over all other wayfarers.
1t is an old story to refer to the bicycle in
connection with this same subject but 1t Is
quite fitting We all remember how few
years ago many riders of the wheel, feeling
secure in their mobility, paid scant attention to
the safety and comfort Of others 1t seemed TO
be their delight to see how nearly they could
come to running down a pedestrian without
actually doing It, aud to dash under horses
noses with a whir and clang, as if to test the
drivers ability to keep them from bOlting. Per
haps this largely in retaliation for the habit
many drivers of horses had of running down
bicycles and crowding them into the gutter. 1t
was never the practice of more than a minority
of wheelmen, and to-day is indulged In by only
the unworthy and lawless few.
So must II be with the other offenders we
have named. They must mend OF must be
made to mend their ways. We have had reg
uar progressive series of arrogances the street
car lordng il over the horse or other vehicle,
the heavy truck tyrannizng over the pleasure
carriage, the automobile vehicle running amuck
among horse vehicles the truckman and cab
driver crowding the bicycle into the gutter the
wheelman soaring the pedestrian out of his wits
and the pedestrian having no recourse but TO
jostle his fellow pedestrian; Just as
naturalists observe a flea
Has smaller feas that on him prey;
ana these have smaller still to bite 'em,
AND so proceed ad inf1nitum.
but II Is all wrong and should be altogether
reformed. The wheelman, as we have said. has
come to have decent regard for the rights of
others. The truck driver. the automobile en-
gineer and even the august promoter of the
trolley car must in time learn the same lesson
Human Inventions are made to be the servants,