Evening star., 1925-11-02
Binding Lamps Blaze Path
OF Peril to Drivers and
Pedestrians Alike.
FEW TAKE ADVANTAGE
OF TESTING FACILITIES
Demand for Curb on Reoklessness
Grows as Bad Weather In
creases Danger.
BY WILLIAM TLLMAN.


! motorists and pedestrians alike-the
: out-of-focus headlight continues to
I flourish in the District of Columbia
! despite laws To the contrary, and re
peated warnings from the authorities
/ that the dangerous nuisance will moi
: he tolerated.
froot that the irregular auto lamp
sun Is blazing its path Of peril in the
. National Capital may be found every
i ilSht In the glare and dazzle Of the
I countless cars that ply the city's
ihoroughfares to the discontinue and
hazard of all drivers
Up and down the streets and around
The corners they go, with lights blue.
white and yellow; tilted up. bent down
and "cockeyed," sending their mis-
directed and binding beams into the
. eyes of approaching drivers to create
4 confusion that may easily result in
disaster
Survey Demanded.
Hence the plea is heard on ever,
side that there be an immediate sur.
vey of the headlight situation in the
District, with prompt arrests tor in
( difference to the regulations. followed
by the imposition of adequa te fines
in court.
That Wilful indifference to the head
Eight laws does exist in d large measure
ls the conviction of autornutive mer
who are ii a position to know tn.
attitude of many motorists toward tn,
regulations. Literally thousa nds OF
car owners, they say, have made nc
attempt whatever to have their lights
, checked while many even have snick
cred at the suggestion
For several months early in the
present year motorists were notified
by District authorities that uut-ot
focus head lamps would not be toler
ated after August /, and they wert
warned also to have their lights con
( form TO the new regulations by thai
date. Sufficient time was allowed 70,
them TO comply and the requirements
were set forth in the newspa pers al
most daily.
Testing Plan Offered.
The Washington Automotive Trade
Association, i'll spirit of co-operation
! rendered its services to help motorists
lest their auto lamps and many mem.
! bers of that organization expended
considerable sums of money fitting
up testing tunnels and procuring neCes
Sary apparatus. The charge was TO
be nominal and the car owner given
a card showing the date of the in
spection, condition of the lights and
other pertinent information.
w hen the trade association plar
was made known, Director of Traffic.
! Eldridge announced that the card is
sued by the automotive men would be
given official recognition. In case OF
arrest the trade card would be aC
cepted as evidence that the holder al
! least had made an attempt to comply
with the regulations.
| Since very few car owners can
make their own tests or perform theil
own adjustments, and there are not
many places to go outside the trade
! association, ii is believed that the
number of inspection cards used indi
Gates rather accurately just how
many motorists have taken the head
! light regulations seriously.
! Blame "Other Fellow"
: II IS pointed out as an important
! factor in not obtaining universal com
/ pliance with the headlight require
ments that many car owners are hon
eStly of the opinion that their lights
, do not need adjustment, and that il
! is always the other fellows lamps
! that are crooked.
| On the other hand, the automotive
! men say that it is virtually impos
! sible for car to receive any wide
| use. particularly over rough roads
without the lamps becoming a bill
! tilted.
! 4 survey of the records of test
cards issued shows that most of the
| car owners who apply regularly to
/ have their lights checked are those
who need the inspection least, for two
reasons: First, because they give
!
periods, and again because they own
| the larger and more expensive cars
with better equipment not so easily
jolted out of alignment.
With the approach of Winter
weather, dazzling headlights constr
tute an even greater menace TO lie
and property, in the opinion of safety
! experts, and every precaution, they
say. should be taken to rid the streets
nf out-of-focus lamps.
Snow Constitutes Peril.
/ Motorists last Friday night were
confronted with the seriousness OF
| binding lights when they attempted
! to drive through the snow with wind
shields partly obliterated. That there
was not a long list of major accidents
! was due no doubt to the fact that driv
ers. realizing the highly unfavorable
conditions, operated their cars Will
| the utmost care.
All motorists are aware that wet
pavements tend to accentuate the dif
! ficulties incident to night driving. For
this reason il is believed to be abso-
lutely essential that District author
tiles take steps at once TO hunt out
cars having "cockeyed" lights. In
dry weather the glaring headlight is
fraught with danger enough, but in
wet weather it is in the same cate
CORY with the irresponsible or intoxi-
Gated driver and should be dealt with
equally severely.
No more serious traffic situation
confronts the automobile driver than
a glaring light. He is temporarily
blinded For = moment he is in total
darkness, although flooded by light,
and must trust to luck that the road
ahead is clear and that he will come
through without running down an in.
nocent pedestrian or colliding with an
other car.
Since the headlight law wen, into
effect, August l, last, very small