Evening star., 1920-10-24
BY THEODORE p. MOVES.


board of the District, consisting Oh
Maj Besson. Maj. Gessford, FRANK
4 Stevens, Rudolph Jose and Samuel
Luttrell is now at work on recon-
mendations for revision and in some
instances changes, in the traffic laws
! of this city.
The board was a happy thought on
| the part of the Commissioners. esPe-
cially on account of the need FOR more
| stringent regulation or the lssuahce
| of an operators permit.
| For 81 a man or woman could go
f! to the District building. make am
davit that he had driven a car LOT
two weeks, sign his name. ana. IN
the eyes of the law be turned OUT as
| a fuiI-fedged motor car operator
| when in many cases he did not even
| know how to shift gears.
! This 81 situation has existed for a Ions
time, and a drastic change from TINS
method will be eagerly welcomed py
the motorists of the city.
Actual Driving Test.
One of the features of the new ex-
| animation for drivers permit, per
haps the most important. should be
| an actual driving test An expert
| driver can tell in ten minutes rlde
! with an applicant whether or not the
| applicant is BILE to handle a car salts
| factorily in heavy traffic, and no one
should be permitted license until ne
| has demonstrated that he is capable.
| Drivin a car is like everything
! else-you have to learn how to do IT,
| and. of course, it finally becomes in
stinctive.
1t would be a difficult matter for
board of examiners. no matter how
proficient, to tell how a man will con-
duct himself in tight place. One
man will do one thing and another
man another. each believing that his
snap judgment was correct.
One Drivers Mistake.
The writer knows a man who is
driving in this city at the present
time His motor always is running
as smoothly as if it had just come
from the factory. Not SOUND IS
heard in the shifting Of gears. Driv-
ing in an open place with this man
one would be inclined to think that
he was an expert driver but driving
in traffic is another proposition.
He will firmly believe in his own
mind that he can stop before he
reaches a car in front of him, but will
end up by crashing into it. He will
try to get through space between
street car and car parked at the
curb-plenty of room-but will scrape
his mudguards on one or the other.
What is the trouble? The trouble is
that he has not the slightest judg-
ment of distance-a requisite in tn"
/ operation OF a motor cdI
This same man has owned eight
cars and has driven in the city for
perhaps ten years. yet he will never
| be any better driver than he is now.
Need of Drivers Test.
From this it would seem that an
actual driving test is necessary for
an applicant for a permit. and that
the driving test should incorporate
a test of Judgment of distance.
Some effective method of revoking
or suspending licenses of habitual
voalatorS of traffic laws should also
be worked out by the board. At the
present time a driver has to commit
a serious offense in order to have his
license revoked.
If driver knew that violations of
the traffic law would mean the revo-
cation of his permit he would hesitate
before taking chances.
In connection with a rigid examina-
ton for the issuing of operators per-
mits. Milton D. Smith. member of
the metropolitan police force. has
in 1916 and 1917 both the Profess
sional Chauffeurs Association and the
Washington Safety First Association
asked for more stringent laws in
this respect.
Portions of Mr.. Smiths letter fol-
low:
Text Of Letter.
1T will be a blessing to all motor
lists and a godsend to all pedestrians
and users of the highways if some
plan can be worked out and carried
into effect whereby no person can OBJ
tain permit to operate an automo-
bile until he or she has fully demon
strated, not only that he can see,
hear and think correctly, but that he
can actually operate a motor vehicle
without damage to himself or others.
Il feel proud to state that l have
newspaper clippings of The Star that
rrove beyond doubt that l was the
father of the idea of separate
examining board for this purpose. In
| 1914 and 1915 l made the suggestion
and The Star published part of my
plan, and again in 1916. 1917 and 1915
the Professional Chauffeurs' Associa-