The Washington herald., 1910-12-11
PRESIDENT DUvALLS VIEWS.
Fewer Speed Laws and Better Traf-
fic Regulation Wanted.


fic Regulation Wanted.
Automobile Editor The Washington Herald.
The object of speed regulations for
automobiles and other road vehicles Is
to protect the public. If such regula-
tions result in this protection. then they
are good and ought TO remain in force.
But II, on the other hand, the public re-
ceives no substantial protection. and such
regulations are mere useless, harassing
distractions 10 the automobile driver,
then they ought TO be abolished.
There may be some few instances-but
if SO. 1 cannot al this time recall them
where accidents TO the public have hap
pened by reason Of excessive speed alone.
In fact. Ia most Of our fatal accidents
investigation has established the fact that
the driver of the automobile was well
within the speed limit as fixed by law.
The conditions of traffic on every street
vary hourly, so that what might be con
sidered a safe limit OF speed on one
street at one hour may be unsafe on an
other street or the same street an hour
earlier or later.
Most or the large cities have laws fix
ing speed limits, but unless a driver goes
al a terrific rate-a rate that is prima
facie dangerous-he proceeds unmOlested.
Woe be unto him, however, II ne fails
strictly 10 observe the rules of the road
or traffc regulations, for then he Is ar
rested and fined.
Strict observance OF traffic regulations
and rules OF the road are. it seems TO
me. all that is necessary: and / mean this
for all drivers. as well as riders OF BIZ
cycles 1 have always been of the opin-
ion that il is not every man who has
learned 10 operate an automobile who
ought TO be turned loose upon our streets
driving one. nor should every man or boy
who can hold the reins of a horse OF
ride a bicycle. AS a general rule, the
driver OF an automobile is. I believe.
b more proficient in the handling OF his
automobile than either the average horse
driver or the bicycle rider, and, futher-
more, certainly IS more Observant of the
rules OF the road and the rights Of others.
While automobile drivers may exceed
the limits of speed in more instances than
horse drivers. possibly owing TO their
ability 10 do so, yet they do, on the
other hand, pay more attention to that
more important thing-the rules of the
road. 1t is. indeed, seldom that one sees
an automobile on the wrong side of the
road. while the reverse is true OF the
horse driver, and more especially the boy
bicycle rider. AS TO the latter, il is q
common sight 10 see them, especially
messenger boys. cut corners. ride on the
wrong side or the street, coast with one
foot hanging. and. therefore. in no posi-
ton to quickly stop their machines, either
for their own protection or that Of pc
deshians Such things are. in fact, so
common that they pass unnoticed either
by the public or the police officers, while,
AT the same time. some automobile driver
is arrested for going beyond twelve miles
an hour Up deserted Sixteenth street hill.
l am heartily in favor OF less speed
regulation and more traffic regulation.
The pedestrians also need little edu-
cation as to crossing streets. They should
be taught to remember that rOadways
were not intended to congregate in for
the purpose of holding conversations;
that reading a newspaper while crossing
the street is not always safe: that the
blowing of a horn is not intended to
startle them, but merely a friendly and
timely warning that there is some one
else in the street besides them; that il is
a bad policy TO dodge back and forth in
front of a moving vehicle; that even at
transfer functions vehicles have to pass.
and are entitled to a little room; that
every man who drives an automobile is
not a hoodlum seeking his destruction,
that every time he hears motor run
ming fast il does not mean that the auto
mobile is going fast. but. generally to the
contrary; that when there is an accident
in which an automobile figures. it is not
always the fault of the automobile driver.
and, in fact is more likely 10 be the fault
OF the other participant: and last. but not
least. that it is a wise precautiOn to look
before stepping from the safe sidewalk
into the more or less dangerous roadway.
and that while the automobile driver is
always looking out for him and in a
majority of Instances sees him when he
has not himself seen the driver. yet 1t is
up to him to lend what aid he can in
avoiding accidents. W. S. DUVALI4
President and legal counsel Of the Washington Au-
tonObie Club.