Evening star., 1924-07-30
LITTLE HEED GIVEN
TO TRAFFIC RULES
Many Law Violations Accu-
muIate to Vex Officers
and the Public.
CITATION OF INCIDENTS
Motorists Not Always to Blame,
But Conditions Regarded as De-
manding Remedy.

| little to the average Washington mo-
| torist if disregard for police signs
means anything.
A little observation downtown will
show the following violations:
Parking between street car loading
platforms and the curb.
Parking in safety cones.
Parking outside the white lines.
Failure to keep close to the po-
liceman at policed crossings when
Add to Police Troubles,
All of these contribute to the
troubles Of the police and the retard-
Ing OF trafiic movement. Some of ii
| is the fault of the police, some of it
tho fault of the motorist. In the
| case of the crossing police, it may
| be seen many times that they do not
| give strict attention to the move
ment of the traffic and direct drivers
how to proceed, as one observes in
other cities. On the other hand, the
! motorist should know. but when the
policeman says nothing he fails to
comply.
1t is believed that a more strict
direction of traffic downtown by the
police on this duty will materially
| relieve many of the traffic troubles
from which the city now suffers.
There is cited the case of the fash
ionably dressed woman in a coupe
One car had stopped for the moment
to discharge passengers and was held
there temporarily to obtain a photo
graph. 1t was at Fourteenth street
and New York avenue. where the
space between the platform and the
curb Is none too great. This woman
drove UP to the curb. touched II
with the front wheels of the car
ana left the rear end sticking two
fset from the curb, itself a violation
OF the regulations, even where park
a narrow margin for trafic to get
through.
Held Under Observation.
Inspector HeadIey and the reporter
watched her. Several signs on the
curb plainly told that there was no
parking permitted between the curb
and the platform. The woman locked
tne car, stepped out and locked the
door and started away
you are not going to leave that
car there. Madam" Inspector HeadIey
questioned, politely.
Why not?" she asked. looking at
the building in front of which she
cant park in front of itT'
It isn't the building" said Inspector
Headley. IF you will look at the signs
ana then glance on the other side of
your car you will see that you are
parked between the platform and the
Well, why don't you make that car
move" she argued
oh. we have lots in Jail like him
SAD tne inspector, as the other car
,bs "Ah! Ih!nIa, nlIaay,oritism," she said. at which
About the only favoritism that was
SHOWN there was the failure TO give the
woman ticket, sending her to the
Iranc Bureau TO deposit collateral on
two counts.
Another Violation Cited.
Another case is the motorist who
tnoughtiess!y stops in the downtown
one alongside of the car. He merely
stops for a second" but sometimes the
conversation drags on for minutes
while traffic, blowing and blasting, at.
tempts to wend it's way onward with.
out scratching tenders and doing othe,
serious damage.
AT Fourteenth street and Pennsyl-
vanta avenue, where, at the busies
times OF the day and traffic is heavi-
est, street cars move In six directions
there 10 a sign on the cars turning
from Fourteenth into E streets vhioh
| warns motorists not to stop on the
car tracks. But almost any time one
may 500 motorist, when the signal
for westbound traffic Is set agains
him. drive directly on the tracks
torist, street cars for E street canno,
get around the curve and there il q
| congestion. The policeman then must
leave his post and direct drivers tc
back up, or hold the street car or
the crossing. jamming other traffic
| while the track is cleared. The prac.
tice is inexcusable, and It cannot b<
for lack OF knowledge. for the sign
is there for any one who can read.
1t seems to be an endless task to
get the motorists to comply even with
the simplest OF the regulations. bu,
| it would appear to be necessary, il
| the police intend to make better and
more careful drivers, that they will
have to force some of them into the
courts and make examples of them.
Driver, Not Always to Blame.
But. Of course. observations have
drivers who are responsible for the
| jams. They even occur in police.
directed sections. 1t happens in
many Of the short SQUARES; For In:
| stance. take street. There is 9
crossing policeman at Eleventh street
regularly. He has semaphore. Dur
| ing the busy hours of the day there
| are policemen at Twelfth and Thir-
teenth streets. The policeman al
Twelfth street passes the trafac NOV
man at Eleventh street sets the
semaphore against 1t. Almost before
one begins to realize 1t the trafhc Is
| backed up across Twelfth street
cannot move traffic north. and In a few
minutes more traffic is backed up or
Twelfth street down to and across E
street to Pennsylvania avenue. A
little foresight on the part of the
officer at Twelfth street, or possibly
phore at Eleventh street. would re-
lieve this difficulty. When the officer
at Twelfth street sees that traffic is
jamming up between Eleventh and
set, he should Immediately stop trafrt
as soon as the rear Of the line reache,
| the building line on the east side o1
Twelfth street Then he can hold ar
opening and move his north traffic
On the other hand. by watching ths
could move traffic only when the &c
sign is set for east and west traffic
1t Is the little things like these and
| the seeming lack of foresightedness
| which causes many of the city's
| traffic jams.
That "Left-Hand T1rnn
| Another case is the motorist who
| seeks to make q left-hand turn OF
a comparatively narrow throughfare
where the corner is policed: Instead
of drawing close to tho policeman tc
await his motion to turn, he stands
off from the semaphore and does not
! leave enough room for the other
trafic behind him to move. The re.
| suit is a jam. Then the policeman has
| to let the cross traffic move. and al
the while the traffic is jamming up
| This is purely a case Of thoughtless.
ness and lack of consideration on thu
part of the motorist
All of these might seem little thing.
on their face, but when one take.
the time to observe the conditionI
and examine them they loom big IL
preventing the free movement o,
Il 4. 4 A.