The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-12-17
PEOPLES FORUM
As to the Traffic cnae


 To the Editor of The Age-Herald:
 I have read with a great deal of interest your editorial in today's issue of The Age-Herald, under the head, Not Given Fair Trial" in which you state that there is considerable public regret that the city commission so hastily revoked certain essential features of the new traffic code. I cannot agree with you in this matter, for the simple reason that this ordinance, like the Irishman, "took in too much territory" and was entirely too drastic to start with. If MT. Cloe's ordinance had called flor parallel parking on Second, Third and Fourth avenues, between Nine teenth and Twenty-first streets, and on Twentieth street between First and Fourth avenues, I think the majority of the automobile public would have approved same. It is not necessary on First ave- nue and Eighteenth, Nineteenth and Twenty first streets, for the simple reason that the distance between cars parked at an angle on these streets is greater than the distance between cars parked parallel on Second, Third and Fourth avenues. However, the or dinance called for parallel parking in the entire city limits of Bir- mingham, and you are we'll aware that a great part of the residence district of Birmingham, both north and south, is very hilly, and in stead of cars being parked parallel on hillside they should be parked at such an acute angle as to make 1t necessary to start the engine and back the car away from the curb before getting away. A MT. Well was killed on South Twenty first street 8 few years ago by an automobile getting away on a hill- side, and there have been a num- Der of cars wrecked in the same manner. The emergency brakes on automobiles are not perfect, and often slip a notch, and also chill dren will get in cars and either loosen the brakes or throw the shift lever into neutral, when peo- pie have left 1t in gear to help hold the car.
 I can speak only for myself. and 1t has been my custom for many years to bring my family to town many times, either to get drink or so to a show, and I have not been down town but once at night since this ordinance went into ef- feet That one time I had to come down about 7:30 on business, and 1t was raining, and before I could go to the Western Union office on flrst avenue to send a telegram l rode around several blocks and finally parked my car on Twen- tieth street at Avenue A and walked back to town. This morn ing I parked at exactly 8 o'clock on First avenue near Sixteenth street, after backing and going forward about six times to get in a close place between two cars, and while the average man can usually do this with very little trouble If the cars are as much as IS feet apart, it is always very hard for woman, and eventually results in much damage to auto mobiles.
 l have not broken the new park Ing law myself, as it is no hard ship for me to walk four or five blocks in the daytime, but no one likes to park his car six blocks away from the business center to go to a theatre at night, and 8 great many will not do it.
 If they continued parallel park ct above, and continued the one-hour parking limit in the business dis trict as proposed by MT. McLendon. l believe the majority of the auto mobile drivers will approve, and will make every effort to obey the law, provided they can park any length of time after ' o'clock at night, and can park at an angle on the rest of the streets. I do not belong to the class who think they can run the city better than the men who are giving all their time 10 this work, but I certainly think that the ordinance in question should have left the parking ques- ton alone. outside of the down. town district. E. J. LEE RUST. birmlnghanl, Ala, Dec. l5, 1923.
 The Age-Herald is not in dis agreement with MT. Rust on the essential features of his arsum ent: nor does The Age Herald insist on the retention of the code in it's en- tirety. On the contrary, when this code was proposed this newspaper remarked editorially on December 6: Doubtless 1t will deyelop bv experience that some details of the regulations are impracticable, and create burdens more or less un- necessary, if not fraught with dam ger. That is usually true in new ana complicated ordinances apply Ing to variety of conditions. such faults can be corrected and all ayoidable annoyances elimi- mated" That is far different from Juhhlns the entire code as is now unfortunately proposed.-Ed.A Age | Herald.