Los Angeles herald., 1906-12-10
aNnARu CROSSING rAp

Los Angeles Is again to be made the
victim Of foolish fad. The trolley
cars are to be stopped on the near"
crossings, instead Of the "fsr" ones.
Just who is responsible for this no
tion II Is hard to say. It was embod-
led In a series of recommendation
made by a group OF citizens to II. -.
Huntington, one of the greatest and
most expert trolley car magnates on
earth Most of these recommended
tions the Huntington interests had al
ready taken steps to adopt; some of
them were clearly impossible and never
will be considered. The most foolish,
impracticable and troublesome of all
that of NEAR" crossing stoppages,
this wise magnate picked out to try
probably to show how little his ad-
visers know about their subject, and
quickly TO disgust the city with the
whole affair.
stopping cars on the NEAR" side OF
the street is sheer folly. No one ever
looks for car there, in the first place.
Hence endless confusion and delay are
bound to ensue. Signs will be neces-
sary to direct strangers--for only one
other city in the country permits the
custom. though many have tried it.
Traffic will be blocked because no
teamster can tell how long a car will
be stopped and no jehu will hold his
horses waiting indefinitely on a motor
man. Now q teamster seesAa car ap-
proach, and, waiting till 1t has passed,
goes in its rear; hereafter he will
drive in front and block traffic.
The new rule will be especially mean
in rainy weather. Cars now stop with
the rear steps at the crossings and
people board and alight dry shod. I'm
der the new management they will be
dumped off in the mud any old place.
The front end Of the car is the dan
ger end. People who are thrown un-
der the wheels meet with the accident
while boarding or leaving the front
end. The "near" side rule will make
the use of the front end imperative
and accidents untold are sure to fol-
low from persons slipping beneath the
wheels.
The logical way to leave car is
by the rear door, Years of education
have taught people this and they do
it instinctively. All this must be
changed; imagine the confusion that
will ensue.
The motorman is on the front of a
car and his attention should be con-
centrated on his work. The use of
his platform for ingress and egress
should be forbidden. The new rule
throws almost all the traffic at his
end and tends to confuse and rattle
him. The conductor, hired to assist
and look after passengers, is to be
left alone on the unused end of the
car, Isn't that foolish?
The danger at crossings is increased
many fold, Now pedestrians and driv-
ers stop as a car approaches, knowing
that it will pass and that they will
then be safe. The new rule will re-
quire every bit of cross-street traffic
to cease, when a car approaches, till
it stops, unloads, loads and proceeds
else one may be run down, as no one
can tell when 1t will start. 1t banks
cars in the center of the blocks and
obstructs the free traffic of the street
1t is abominable, senseless and dan
gerous.
Toronto tried the near side rule and
abandoned it in disgust. Washington
gave it up as a failure. Kansas City
undertook it and the council made the
trolley company return to the sane
way. Many other cities abandoned
the idea. San Francisco alone per-
sists in it. Los Angeles is foolish for
tolerating 1t one day, filed as the city
is with strangers from every other
city where the proper method is OBJ
served.
1t should never be put in force, even
for a day.