Evening star., 1924-07-29
DRIVERS DISREGARD.
CROSSING RULES
Conditions in Congested
Zones Made More Difficult
by Needless Autoists.
ADD TO ACCIDENTS
Need of More Severity on Part of
Traffic Policemen
Noted.
ADD TO ACCIDENTS

Conditions in the congested zone
Z, are made more difficult for both We
hicular and pedestrian traffic by the
failure of motorists to comply with
the rules for stopping, which, as mo-
tor vehicle operators, they should
know Most of them do know them,
but observations downtown on any
day of the week shows utter disre-
gard by many drivers of such rules
J and regulations. All of the condi-
tons contribute toward accidents,
some of them fatal.
The moral effect of having a po-
liceman at crossings is a good one,
and where traffic policemen are the
traffic is well handled.
Seen from Corners.
But any one may stand on any un
policed corner any time of the day
and particularly during the busy
hours and see motorists blocking the
cross walks, obStructing the cross traf-
fic, while they nose in and out to get
across the street. For instance, take
a number of cases observed at Thir-
teenths and G streets. Motorists COM
ing down Thirteenth street Will nose
part of the way across G street while
a street car holds them up. They
remain right in the roadway and cars
moving west on G. street cannot pro-
coed because the southbound tramc
halts it.
The result-a jam in two directions:
Another motoriSt comes up behlno
the cars blocking the way and stops
and others add to the jam. Pedes-
trians wanting to cross the street
must wend their way between the
cars.
AS soon as the traffic policeman
takes his station, however, traffic be
gins to move, easily and quickly. in
both directions, there are no Jams
and plenty of room is left for the
pedestrians to cross between the
white lines. Several times m, motorists
turned right at the command of the
policeman All of this indicates that
the automobile driver is showing an
utter lack of cooperation in helping
the police to solve washington
traffic muddle.
In Eschelon Formation.
Another great cause of so-called
traffic jams here is the habit of auto
mobilists travelling down a street in
escheIon formation-that is, the first
car may be close to the curb, the
next, instead of standing directly be-
hind him, moves a little to the left
and SO on down the line until the
traffic moving in the other direction
IL blocked. The motorist who does
this, it was pointed out, gains moth
ing. He cannot move until the car
ahead moves, and by attempting to
asee what is stopping the traffic he
Vcannot move it any faster, but con-
tributes toward stopping and block
ing it. This practice the police are
anxious to break up.
Pedestrian traffic at the policed
crossings is particularly hard to con-
troll. The time of the crossing police
man is taken up almost entirely by
the movement of vehicular traffic, and
people will not wait for the traffic to
move in their direction before cross
ing. The only way that this can be
stopped is by providing policemen at
the curb lines to direct this traffic
also. 1t is true that in directing traf-
flo downtown the police take abso-
lutely no cognizance Of the movement
of pedestrians, leaving them to watch
out for themselves Semaphore sig
nails are turned many times when the
crosswalks are crowded, and there
were many instances observed where
pedestrians had to skip to prevent
motor traffic from bearing down on
them.
No Excuse for Motorists.
However, there is absolutely no ex-
cuse for the motorist who insists on
standing in the way of pedestrian
traffic when he knows that he cannot
cross the street and the only way to
stop it at unpoliced crossings down.
town is to begin a. movement to make
examples of those motorists who will
not voluntarily cooperate and stay
back of the white lines until it is
time for the traffic moving In the
direction they are going to proceed.
Crossing policemen are inclined to
be a little too lenient in the traffic
cases, and it is believed that a little
tightening up will solve some of the
problems without the necessity of
providing more policemen. There are