The Washington herald., 1909-07-21
Automobiles and Pedestrians.

A rear admiral in the United States
navy. now temporarily stopping at a sum
mer resort. writes to The Washington
Herald as follows. apropos Of the recent
ueplOrable automobile accident IN this
city:
The recent finding in the case Of the killing Of
a resident q Washington. veteran Of the war Of
the rebellion leommorly called the civil war;. and
> government ompioye Tor many years. strikes me
s5 an encouragement 10 the drivers Of automobiles
to 90 killing. # they like that sort Of thing.
zone is tempted % recall the old Jewish law
of 'on eye for eve. tooth for a tooth which
certainty many people Of the present day believe
10 have had strong foundation in justioo-propery
applied
This killing was decided TO Be an accident
Th@e may be accidents unavoidable bat was this
ons2 man vas Iearning 90 drive an automobile
in the busy streets Of tao Capital City Of the ooun-
Try. Is that tho place TO Learnt
Why should people he killed IN order that
may be taught the management Of q ma
chine that Is usually an instrument Of pleasure o.
convenience 70 the rchg
The driver Of one Of these maclIpes sees a pr
sen or vehicle in his way and sounds bis alarm or
be aVrTuaches q turn be Is 10 make and does the
sane How does be know hat the person in his
path IS in iu possession Of his isc1ltes' Tho per
son may DO blind deaf OF befosged vith d-.nk,
W be may BE- crippled and unable 70 step lively
"Are tho autonobilists the lords q tne roadi
Have pedestrians no rights?
Il know Of an instaroe where two automobiles
suing At q 5tif pace sounded their warnines that
they were going TO round C. corner from opposite
directiors The warning vas sounded AZ the same
Instant Ia neithe- d-ivSr heard he other hoDk
he result would have been fatal 10 many people
ecopt Tor tie presence Of mind Of the two drivers
tcne Of whom was hnsnsn TO tie e1-Presideut)
md the fine qualities OF the machines. which
stopped within two feet Of each ether.
Does Il not seem natural tia. many accidents
vould be arerted II the drivers os automobiles
wcse compelled 70 slow down Whenever tie houk Is
houndcdi And is It not a constant menace 10
human lie Il these modern Jugvemnuts are al
lowed 70 charge around cur city IL charge Of men
Who sTo not licensed chaufeursg
Il do not wish 70 be understood as 4 hster Of
automobiles. I like them and look forward To tie
day whea I shall own one; but my instructions 70
the chauffeur win be. Do not reach the limit OF
speed within the ety Limits. and never exceed il
without. "
The Washington Herald quite agrees
with the admiral that a busy street is not
the place TO learn to drive an automobile;
and his advice. do not reach the limit
OF speed within the city limits. and never
exceed it without" is sound-absolutely
sound II his advice were followed. fewer
accidents would happen; the safety Of
pedestrians and chauneurs would be PRO-
NOTED alike.
But. quite apart from the deplorable
case which the admiral takes as text
for his sensible comment, there is some
thing to be said on the other side. In
Paris. where traffic is heavy always and
everywhere. the streets are given up
wholly 20 vehicles. the rights OF pedes-
crians being confined to the sidewalks.
In case OF an accident, the burden Of blame
calls upon the pedestrian, not upon the
chauffeur or driver who runs over him.
IN other words. when the pedestrian ven
lures into the street, even at a crossing
It is at his own risk and he understands
II. Yet. thanks TO police care and regu-
iation. few accidents occur.
A habit more characteristic OF WASH
ngton perhaps than OF any other city.
and constantly conducive Of accident is
that Of people walking in the streets.
II they wish 10 go from one side OF
the street 70 the other they walk right
over. without waiting to reach the cross
ing. Often they PASS diagonally; and II
IS by no means exceptional 10 see people
strolling in the middle Of the street for
blocks at stretch. instead Of using the
sidewalks.
No doubt this habit on the part of
Wash!ngtonians is so fixed as TO be I'm
ehangeable and constitute a sort OF
vested right; but it IS an unsafe and
very bad habit. nevertheless.
Fault Is found all the time with auto
mobiles and carriages-especially auto
mobiles, toward which pabllc animosity
still exIsts-snd unquestionably more or
less carelessness is shown by chaufeurs
end drivers; but the danger 20 pedes-
trians would be reduced greatly and COM
plants correspondingly lessened IL they
could but break themselves Of this habit
Of walking haphazard in the streets. and
adopt the safer and wiser course OF using
the crossings.
The careful chauffeur and driver-and
we believe four-hfths Of them strive 70
be eareful-must be constantly on the
alert to avoid mishap. Danger is not con-
fined TO crossings, but is continuous, from
one end Of the street to the other. be-
cause people choose 20 ignore crossings
and make free and indiscriminate use Of
the thoroughfares generally.
A casual observation on Pennsylvania
EvanuS Seventh or F streets. or any