The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-08-21
Regulations for Pedestrians.

Regulations for Pedestrians.
 "We will never be able to reduce the number of street accidents-fron auton obdles, trolley cars and other proper traffic regulations in cities
 says Walter B. Flanders, president and general manager of the Maxwell Motor Company, Detroit.
 "But we already have traffic regu- lations-every self-respecting city, and some that are not entitled to seif-re- spect have traffic squads, motorcycle police and all that sort of thing" sug-
 gested the interviewer.
 "Oh yes,'' laughed the automobile manufacturer, i've have traffic regu-
 lations, most of which tend to impede traffic and to multiply the congestion at busy points The idea in the minds
 of our police commissioners seems to
 be that any regulation that fmpedes progress and aggravates the automo- bile driver, must be a good one,'' con l tinued MT. Flanders.
 'ENo I am not referring to Detroit We have better traffic regulations here than in any other city I know
 with the possible exception of New
 York. Even there they send vehicu-
 lar traffic by round about ways at Herald square, Times square and oth- CT points, thus creating congestion at four or five places instead of the orig ina1 one. But they do adopt the plan of hurrying traffic past such points, instead of slowing it up, as is the GUS
 tim on most cities.
 But I did not mean to refer to
 traffic regulations lof vehicles, we
 have plenty of them such as they are. That is not the solution. Automo- piles are increasing and will continue
 to increase. Traffic will increase, and street crossings become more and more dangerous. The average bus l. ground in a day that he used to in
 pre-motoring days. So there is three | times the traffic in our streets, des- pite the face that the rapid-moving vehicles would naturally have de- | creased the congestion, were there on- 1 1y one automobile to replace each I horse drawn vehicle of former days. The remedy is in proper traffic
 regulations for pedestrians 1 enforced. That they have such reg l ulations and do enforce them rigidIy is I the reason why there is a, smaller per l centage of accidents in European cit
 ies.
 ''Of course we Americans think it I very funny that in Paris and Berlin, for example, the pedestrian who gets
 run over or knocked down by a ve-
 hicle is arrested, instead of the driver 1 of the vehicle. It isn't so ridiculous
 after all. In the first place, the dri- yer is arrested as often as the pedes-
 trian-if the driver has been at fault But mostly it is the pedestrians fault He has been violating a well defined
 traffic ordinance, in the enforcement 1 of which he must play his part and
 contribute his share of intelligence. | 'In this country we say the pedes-
 trian has the right of way. And in l principle that theory is right Some
 eminent thinkers protest that 8 man has the right to commit suicide if he l wants to-but our laws make the at l tempt a misdemeanor. The same rule
 applies or should apply-to traffic I regulations. We should protect the l careless, thoughtIess pedestrian l against himself-by making it a mis- I deneanor to violate the traffic reguIa- I tions just as it now is for the driver
 of truck or autonlobilei to do SO. I Look at them crossing the street at all points in the block and at all I angles! The traffic officer stops street 1-and when he signals the vehicles to 1 proceed you will see men, women and l children rushing across in front of motor vehicles. The pedestrian in l sists on his right to commit suicide
 and dares the motorist to thwart him! I ftWhy if the much-malfgned motor ist didn't exhibit the utmost care to comp pensate for the suicidal careless 1 ness of pedestrians there would be 100 accidents where there is now one.''