The Washington herald., 1915-07-18
Perflx Of the Pedestrian,

Editor of The Washington Herald:
The question of safety in city streets
is rapidly becoming one OF first i'm
portance in the daily life of city in
habitants and particularly. of course
Washington. That the citizens already
recognize the significance of the great
ly increased motor traffic in the public
streets is evidenced by the so-called
safety first movement. 1t is a curl
Gus fact, however. that many people
and especially newspapers seemingly
ignore the all-important role played
by automobiles and auto-trucks in the
daily increasing list of victims of ac-
cidents of street traffic Statements
have, / believe. appeared in some of
the daily papers to the effect that
street car accidents are more frequent
and more to be feared than so-caIled
! auto" accidents. Attempts have also
been made to minimize the latter by
making IL appear that pedestrians.
who before the greatly increased au-
tomobile traffic were in the ma jority
according to these authorities) are
now in a minority. and therefore this
unfortunate part of the community
should be made 10 shoulder the entire
responsibility of avoiding the dangers
of the streets. This is. of course. as
every intelligent person knows. sheer
nonsense. and savors of cyniCiSm If
not downright disregard of human life
and civic rights.
The fact is however. that the great
ma jority of these so-called accidents"
are not accidents at all, but the results
of criminal carelessness and neglig-
ence the part of automobile driv-
ers. An ugIier term could be applied.
and with just reason. TO these unfor-
tunate happenings. When loss of life
results many of these accidents" are
mere manslaughter. and when minor
injuries are inflicted the term fell
ony" would he more appropriate. II IS
only necessary to observe the daily
sight of automobiles and heavy auto
trucks running al railroad speed
through the streets and at night steal
ing silently upon their victims in the
dimly lighted thoroughfares of the less
frequented parts of the city. rapidly
turning corners. without giving the
customary signals. in order to be able
to properly analyZe the mental status
of many of these drivers. and TO place
responsibility where il justly belongs.
The automobile craze has advanced so
far that IL may safely he asserted that
II majority of those now using this
favored mode of progression were 20
rely solely on their natural means of
loComotion. II would be infinitely bet
ter for their pockets as well as their
general health
AS things are. il is we'll nigh i'm
possible for the average pedestrian to
protect himself against injury or
worse at the hal ds OF reckless driv-
ers-crippled individuals. children and
aged being left entirely out of the
question. This is rapidly bringing
about an intolerable situation which.
difficult il is to handle. should he
coura Eeously faced and relieved PUP
lie cooperation is all that is neCes-
sary; societies for the adoption OF
ways and means of combating the evil
should be organized. but above all
public lethargy should he aroused
The eCotism of the individual. al
ready enormously exaggerated in our
communities and the source of most
CONTINUED on PAGE ELEVEN