The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1925-08-14
With The
AlibiArtists
Fines of $25 for Cross
ing Rule Violations
Small Considering
Many Killings
Corner Shooters Menace
By DONALD McDOUGAL

rector's office has recommended
that the fine for taking the right OF
way from pedestrians at cross
walks be whooped up to SIS.
Considering the large numbers
Of people who have been injured
at street intersections this year;
considering that crossing streets is
a risk every one has to take
every day of the year; consider
ing that elderly people. or invalids
or very young children have to
make that perilous passage I'M
aided; and considering that in the
last six weeks three people have
been killed trying 1t, a twenty
five dollar fine for disregarding
the law passed for their protec-
ton. doesn't seem excessive.
Few people. who walk around
Washington very much can have
failed to notice the increasing
abandon and recklessness with
which some motorists have been
shooting around corners and skim
ming over crosswalks the last few
months.
The old traffic code had a regu-
lation forbidding a driver to go
around corner at greater
speed than twelve miles an hour.
In several respects that regula-
ton was a dud. 1t was unpopu-
lar with motorists because 1t often
forced them to slow up when
there was no immediate need for
it; and it was a hard regulation
TO enforce.
Few witnesses were able to an
swer the question, How fast was
the defendant going?" And IL
they didn't know how fast he
was going, it was argued, then
they didn't know he was going
faster than twelve miles an hour.
But quite a number of cases
were brought into court, and there
were enough convictions to make
the majority of motorists wary
they knew pretty well themselves
whether they were complying
with the law or not--and the net
result was a tendency to slow
up, or, at the lowest estimate,
an increased watchfulness when
turning corners.
Not many drivers literally COM
piled with the law. yet the very
realization that they were delib-
erately violating a specific, clearly
expressed regulation, brought on
a certain uneasiness that was
more favorable to the pedestrians
than the arrogant unconcern and
the jump-you-son-of-a-gnn complex
that has become so noticeable at
street crossings lately.
The present regulation is not Dis
specific as the old one. but it's
easier to enforce, and hits nearer
the mark.
Under the old code, il you
swung around a corner and hit
someone, and there was no proof
that you were exceeding twelve
miles an hour at the time, that
was a pretty fair sort of an alibi
you were driving in accordance
with the regulations and the ac-
cident was therefore unavoidable.
Not so under the present regu-
lation. The mere fact that you
had a collision on the crosswaIk
is prima facie evidence that you
didn't yield the right of way, as
the law demands.
From the beginning of the
present traffic administration mo-
florists have made no effort to
obey this regulation and police
have made no effort to enforce it.
sThey have been too busy in
other Observation-Disclosures up on
overtime parkers, for instance.
If one-half as many police had
been posted at street corners to
arrest violators of this regula-
ton as have been assigned to
parking peccadillos, and If the
number of corner-shooters brought
into court had amounted to one
hundredth the number of park
ing offenders, the crossing regu-
lation would have been pretty
well known by this time.
Anyhow, we're glad that the
regulation has been brought into
the limelight, and that there's a
chance it may be held there by
marking it's price up above the
ordinary run.
And we hope the regulation
about passing street cars will fare
the same way. AS 1t is now, the
minimum penalty for endangering
the lives Of passengers by run
ming past a standing street car is
less than the punishment for
beating a horse.
What's wrong with traffic In
Washington, says you.