Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-01-28
Many Autoists Accused
of Treating Regulation
as Only Scrap of Paper
!, The Editor of The Star

To the Editor of The Star:
The recent report of Maj. Pullman
dealing with fatal and serious accidents
due to the operation of motor vehicles
in the streets of Washington is suffi-
GENTLY alarming to stimulate public
sentiment to the point of drastic activ-
ity. Maj. Pullman frankly states that
he and his force of policemen have
failed in the faithful effort they have
made to reduce the toll Of life and limb
demanded by the ruthless juggernaut,
and / do not doubt that the people Of
the District have accepted the state
nent as the truth, the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth
The fact remains, however, that mo-
tor vehicles are driven at dangerous
speed through the city's principal bust
ness streets. 1t is doubtless safe as
sertion that most of the accidents re-
ported by Maj, Pullman occurred at
street intersections and that in numer-
Gus instances they resulted from wan
ton disregard of the rights of pedes-
trians. My own observation warrants
me in saying that not only between the
turning corners of business thorough
fares frequented by many thousands of
people every day, motorists force their
cars along as If the element of danger
we're wholly negligible No allowance
is made for the fact that scores of
pedestrians are afflicted with partial
blindness, that others do not hear dis
tinctly-a condition that causes sounds
to become exceedingly confusing-and
that others still are the victims of in
mi rerlf IN
the man or the woman at the wheel,
which make it impossible for them to
do what people with sharp eyes, alert
ears and sound bodies must do--run for
their livest
My regard for Maj Pullman is much
too high for me to question either the
sincerity of his efforts to curb all forms
OF lawlessness in the District or his
ability to fathom the devious ways of
those from whom offense comes New
crtheless, I find myself unable to avoid
the clear conclusion that there is some
thing wrong in the District of Columbia
Traffic regulations provide that the
speed of motor vehicles, within certain
well defined limits, shall not exceed
twelve miles an hour; that in turning
corners it shall not be greater than six
miles an hour, and that at points at
which the tracks of street car compa-
EieS intersect machines shall proceed at
only four miles an hour. But at least
drive automobiles in Washington treat
this ordinance as if it were only a
trif1ing scrap of paper
The law can be rigidly enforced.
But neither Mai. Pullman nor any
other man can enforce it without the
substantial backing of the Commission
ers and the District courts. One man
with a traffic squad of sixty picked men
from the ranks of District officers-one
man with the courage to do his duty
whether he deal with rich or poor or
high or low-can in six short weeks
make the city's streets as safe for
ambling age as they are for youth or
young manhood-provided the Commits
siorers and the courts will stand
squarely behind him. Let motorists
know that the law will be enforced
without the slightest regard for the So
cjal standing of the man or woman who
offends and Washington will quickly
add to its fame the distinction of being
city in which 10000 automobile driv-
ers faithfully observe traffic regulations
EDWARD S. TAFT.