The Washington times., 1925-07-18
\ With the
IAlibi Artists.
la Cross Section Of the.
| Daily Grind in Judge
Hits Court
Read EN- and Weep
By DONALD McDOUGALA

HE was parked on the east side
of Seventeenth street near F from
100 to 3:15, your honor, contrary
to Article IL, Section Is. Para
graph X, which prescrlbes one
hour parking limit for both sizes
of Seventeenth street IN that
locality, between the hours OIL
9:15 a. m. and 4 p. m.
Boob: ct ran the whole length
of that block, looking for trattlc
signs. examined the trees, the
sidewalk and the street pavement.
There wasn't sign in that
block.
eff parking along there is for
hidden by the regulations, l dlqnt
know it. / read them fhroRgn
once, but there's so much OF
them that 1 didn't remember
about Seventeenth street.
I'm a careful driver, but l
have a poor memory. can't
even remember the Rule OF Three;
don't stand any show at all
with three thousand rules. There
wasn't any sign in that block
The COP: There were signs on
the other side of the street, your
Boob: "Great Scott! 1 never
thought of looking there. what 8
the good of signs if they're hard
ar to locate than the regulations
are?'
to the Rule of Three is highly
COMMONWEALTH 81
Second boob: ct didn't know
marking was restricted there,
YOUR honor. In some streets
the short time parking regulation
applies from s a. m. to p. M
in others 9:15 to 4, in others
from 9:15 to g.. in some cases
the limit is"
Third boob (mumblingl: Ine
whole thing is the limit.
Second boob continuing the
limit is two hours and In others
it's one hour and in some cases
it's help yourself.
1--WE given up trying to Keep
track of all those regulations,
and depend on signs to tell me
what to doY But there wasn't a.
sign in that block
The court; - Q didn' look
Tenth boob: 1--WE been park
ing there every day, and"
"Well, the court can't hold
that against youths is the first
time you've been caught. So.
And all that is pretty hard on
pedestrians-the motorist has got
to be less attentive to them than
ever.
He can't watch out for kids
hopping off the curb after a bali,
or lodging around a parked car
he can't do that when mes rub
bering over the landscape for
tin signs tackled on trees across
a forty-foot street, or painted on
the asphalt somewhere ahead OF
him.
It's a dead certainty that the
more the drivers attention is
scattered, the greater is. the
chance for an accident. A man
can't run even fifteen miles an
hour through an unfamiliar street
and examine every tree on both
sides Of the road and investigate
every square yard of it's surface
for signs that he doesn't even
know are there, and at the same
time give the careful attention
needed to dodge jay-walkers and
unskilled drivers.
And the tree that he overlooks,
or the square yard of asphalt ne
misses, may hold the sign that
tells him what he must do to
keep out of court and save his
three dollars-and the price Is
going up, they say.
II the idea Of the present cam
paign is to fix the motorists
attention on unskillfully placed
parking signs, that campaign is
successful. But just to the extent
that his attention is jolted in
that direction, it's taken off NOV
ing traffic.
Increasing the risk of collisions
in order to save the price of a
consultation fee for a competent
advertising man, looks like
poor brand of economy-especial-
Iy to the hundreds of motorists
who have spent several = hard
earned dollars and sweaty hours
in traffic court charged with
disobeying bungled-up traffic
signs.
That doesn't make for co-opera-
fiOn