Evening star., 1916-03-08
RAILROADS AND AUTOS.
What Might Have Been Said in
Grade e-Crossing DAYS.

To the Editor Of The Star:
Before the advent Of the automobile
the citizens of Washington were killed
mainly by the steam railroads. The
number killed then seemed very large
and the citizens determined that these
accidents were avoidable. Mass meet
ings were held. The Commissioners
and Congress were petitioned. Grade
crossings were abolished in our city,
and we now look back upon our work
in saving the lives of our citizens from
the grinding wheels of the locomotives
and cars.
If at one of our mass meetings a
representative of the railroad could and
should have prophesied what has hap
pened since he would have been hissed
and hooted off the platform. He might
have said:
:. Gentlemen. you are fighting a pub
lie service corporation which has bene-
nted your city. Its trains run upon
tracks which all that have eyes may
see. Its locomotives and cars make a
noise which all that have ears may
hear. 1t provides gates at crossings
about to pass. Its employees are di-
rected to warn persons crossing the
tracks when there is danger. Surely
II your citizens are injured it is due to
their carelessness, not ours. Yet you
are placing the responsibility upon US.
You will win your fight and we shall
have to pay millions of dollars because
your citizens are careless.
In few years you will have upon
your streets engine propelled vehicles
which will kill more of your citizens
than the railroads do now. No tracks
Will they run upon that all may be
warned of their course. Their wheels
Will be rubber tired and almost noise
less; The majority of them will be
used for pleasure, and of no public
service. At first you will permit them
to run at a speed that is now con-
sidered dangerous for horse to travel
Women and children will be killed and
manned by their wheels. Your coro-
ner's iuries will meet and almost au-
tomatfcally say. Unavoidable accident.
few citizens may protest, but no
largely attended mass meetings will be
held. You will have become accus-
toned to having your citizens killed.
"All over your land others of your
citizens will be killed in large num-
bers by this new vehicle. In some
places there will be more deaths than
In your city in proportion to the popu-
lation. Then will some wise man Sc
lect the city where the most people
are killed and he will say: There is
our model. Our laws are archaic and
unreasona BILE. Let us adopt the laws
of the metropolis
THE unwise man will say: But SO
many of our citizens are being killed
now. Shall we change to the laws of
the metropolis where more are killed
than here"
Then the wise man will say: They
that are killed are careless and are
themselves to blame. 1t is so all over
the land. Two per cent of our people
ride and 9S per cent walk. Ninety per
cent of the accidents are due to the
carelessness of the 9S per cent who
walk. If the per cent of riders are
to blame in only 10 per cent of the
accidents, then must the 9S per cent
be most at fault So as we have so
clearly shown that those who walk are
the most to blame. we should select as
our model the laws of the city where
the greatest number are killed.
1t may be So the unwise man will
say, but | do not SO understand it,
"All this will come to pass"
Should not some one then arise and
say, "A few years since we made the
railroads spend millions of dollars be-
cause our citizens were killed in our
streets? Now that we have grown
wiser and know that it is those who
are killed who are to blame, shouldn't we
tax ourselves to reimburse the railroads
which in our ignorance we so heavily
penalized?" w. PEABODY.