The Washington herald., 1913-12-07
THE OPEN FORUM
RIGHTS OF PEDESTRIANS.
Correspondent Thinks a Few jail
Sentences Would he whoI..ome.

sentences would he Wholesome.
To the Editor: 1 wish TO commend
your editorial on Street DaneerS,, an.
pearing In yesterdays Herald, and write
this entirely in personal wav .Accf-
dents from motor vehicles are so fre-
quent that some public agent like vo,Ir
paper should take up the cudKel and
Weld II vigorously. The fault for such
accidents is usually charged to tbs 80
takes and bewilderment OF pedestrians
1 cannot believe that this is the t-l,s
reason in the great majority of cases.
The writer usually walks the Length
Of Pennsylvania avenue from Fifteenth
street to Peace Monument in going 10
and from the office. On such walk. 7
meet and pass several thousand people
each day. When crossing side streets
1t is almost invariably the rule that the
motorist demands the right Of way. mar
ticularly when no officer is in sight II
is always the rule with takes Blowing
horns from 100 feet to a. half block or
more away, the machines come tearing
across the street at double the speed
rate authorized by law. No pretense of
giving pedestrians the right Of way Is
ordinarily shown. Machines driven nv
chau1eurs, women and sometimes bovs
rush down and across the Avenue at
racing speed. When the machine 10
about to run over some bewildered ne
destrian, the brakes are usually and
suddenly applied by the annoyed driver
believe there Is hardly a person who
walks the streets that has not had one
or more narrow escapes, and whose ex-
periences are not Of similar character.
Crossing Fifteenth street on X street
recently, a large motor car, driven by a
grinning negro chauffeur, barely avoided
the writer and his wife when We were
crossing the street at the regular cross
ing. In the car were three women all
OF whom grinned in similar manner with
their smiling negro. as they observed
the fright OF my wife and my own fear
Of being run over. Both OF US are rea-
sonably agile, but a heavy car rounding
a street corner at high speed is liable
TO catch any one, providing the brake
fails or the wheel is being handed by
an inexperienced or confused driver
From personal experience l know that
not one-half the drivers appreciate the
tremendous power Of the average car.
The remedy lies in several directions.
First, no motor vehicle nor street car
should cross any intersectiing street at
more than six miles an hour or be per-
mitted to run anywhere in the city at
more than double that rate Of speed Sec
ond, every policeman who fails to strict
ly enforce the law, whether he winkS az
the infractiOn of the law by a reckless
boy or the highest official in the land,
should be discharged. The officers should
be sustained In a strict enforcement of
the law. Make jail sentences without
any alternative fine, a punishment fo-
the violation Of the street ordinances.
In case of injury to a pedestrian, place
the burden of disproving fault upon the
motor car driver. on the theory that the
streets are primarily for pedestrians who
outnumber the motor cars 80 to !, on the
average. \ rigid enforcement Of rea-
sonable regulations will discourage the
tendency of the average motorist TO seek
crowded thoroughfaTes. TO race with
street cars in order TO avoid stopping
when passengers board the car. A few
wholesome Jail sentences would be of
inestimable value in emphasizing the
rights of pedestrians The news col
umns Of every paper in the land where
there are constantly growing lists of ac-
cidents, is authority for this statement.
] have no crouch against machines, for
I have driven one in the past, nor do I
put all drivers in the above category,
cut as one rotten apple will ultimately
spoil a whole barrel, so Will few reck-
less drivers in this city bring odium on
all the others.
As stated at the beginning, this is writ
ten personally and to commend your ex-
cellent editorial on the subject