Evening star., 1925-08-30
Safely Held Forgotten in
Drivers Mystification Over
Maze of Rules.
SIMf! .fFICATI0N VITAL
IN MOTORISTS OPINION
Autoist Cites Eight-Block Detour
Necessary to Make Two-Block
Journey to Store.
BY WILLIAM ULLMAN.

Despite Traffic Director Eldridge's
denial thas the District is overregu-
lated traffiGAlly and his expressed be
! lief that dissatisfaction with local
regulations is confined to a small
minority of the local population, pro
| tests against the confusion and incon-
venience created by the multiplicity Of
Dos" and "Don'ts" in effect con
tinue to be heard on every side.
Contrary IT, opinion expressed at the
District building to the effect that Di-
rector Eldridse's procedure is emient-
ly correct, and that his various traffic
schemes will work out all right it is
the conviction of an ever-increasing
number of motorists and pedestrians
that Mr.. Eldridges regulations are too
complicated aid that they should be
simplified
The general Complaint of those who
must follow tbs countless traffic signs
that dot the National Capital is, in
substance. that attempts at strict OBJ
serYance leave .hem helplessly dizzy
in maze of complex instructions.
Unnecessary and needless annoy
ance, they say, is the result of too
many restrictions. AS an example of
this, one motorist tells of his expert
on II street, between Fourteenth and
Fifteenth.
Makes Eight Block Detour.
Headed north 1T Fourteenth and
q streets" he SAID, Il could not turn
left at New York avenue, nor at II
nor at |, so l proceeded to K street
where l was permitted to turn Going
west on X | could not turn left at
Fifteenth, east of Mcpherson Square.
! so / kept on TO the west side of that
! square and there mana ged to make
another left turn. Proceeding south
] on Fifteenth, west of Mcpherson.
! again turned left at l street, con
/ tinued east to Fourteenth. right on
Fourteenth to II, and again right on
/ II street to my destination. This driv-
| ing, in my opinion, was bit com
! plicated for a man trying TO reach a
/ shop for a small purchase on the wav
! home and caused me to make a de-
tour of eight blocks that certainly
gave me the impression that there Is
! something radically wrong with our
| present traffic system"
! The experience of this motorist is
+ but one of many similar experiences
told to the automobile editor of The
Star by motorists who may be regard
| ed as reasonable in their views, sane
I in their judgment, not given to hastv
| sympathy with the traffic director and
anxious TO cooperate with him. But
| they believe that in his zeal and en-
/ thusiasm for his work he has made
! too many regulations and he should
proceed now TO survey the confusion
that has been created and make nee
| esSary changes.
In many quarters the belief pre-
/ walls that there are now too many
| one-way streets and too many left
| hand turn restrictions. The average
driver" says President Thomas T.
! Henry of the a. a. A. cannot. think
| of traffic puzzles and safety at the
same time. You cannot overload the
motorist with too many rules and ex-
! peCt him to drive at his best. Some
thing will be neglected in the process,
and everything seems to prove that it
is safety"
! Simplification Asked.
| The general opinion among traffic
students is that unless there is less
! experimenting with traffic and more
| attention paid to simplifying 1t, there
will be no genuine progress in the
work Of minimizing accidents and
causing traffic to flow smoothly.
| Too many cities" states one traf-
| fic expert. ARE exaggerating their
| traffic problem to a point where they
| feel obliged to conplicate the situation
| unnecessarily. When given a choice
| between a successful plan and an ex-
pertinent in traffic direction too many
are prone 10 adopt the latter"
| One local motorist declares that
when he drives out on local streets
today he gets the impression he is in
! a sort of contest, in which a false
move will mean an arrest. AS a re
| suit he comes to fear the traffic Off
Ger and drives about in highly nerv-
Gus state. All Of which, he says, does
not make for safety.
! Regarding the radical turning
| scheme with which the traffic Office
proposes to experiment, irrespective
of public opinion, a Philadelphia mo-
florist said;
! Traffic in Philadelphia and other
Pennsylvania cities that pattern after
| the Quaker City's regulations, is fire.
quently delayed and complicated by
reason of the inability of strangers to
grasp the idea or driving over TO the
! right-hand curb before making a left
| hand turn. This is the rule in this
particular locality, and it has been in
effect for some time, yet there are too
many drivers-both local and from out
| of town-who do not appear to be able
to follow the regulation, so congestion
| is the inevitable result"
fdrklng nuleS TIeiu SOIHpfeA
Another view of what a local mo-
torist terms "our traffic complications"
| is expressed as follows:
Because many drivers are not sure
whether they may make turn or are
permitted to park their cars on GER
tain streets, ins GcT-srcwn section -
tantly congested with cruising au-
tomobiles. In studying the s..vstion.
so to speak, the drivers of these cars
naturally run slowly and thus hold
back all traffic. 1t Is during such mo-
nents as these that collisions and seri-
Gus accidents frequently occur"
Just returned from visit to several
large Eastern cities, the president of
local citizens association, in q let
ter TO The Star, calls District trafic
regulations ridiculous"
II have just returned from visit
to some of our large Eastern cities"
he writes, driving through their most
congested section, and at no time did
l encounter the difficulty do in our
own city.
"yVa want IN ,,,;.A