Evening star., 1925-07-19

est traffic regulation by stepping too
hard on his accelerator.
With the motor purring rhyth-
tnically, with tires singing a staccatiC
song and with the breeze whiZzing
Through the windshield aperture, the
onrushing car ,ysd it's eXhilarated
driver speed toward a blind and baf-
fling curve. The driver, figuring that
he will take a chance for the sheer
boy of trying something thrilling,
does not abate his speed as his car
lurches around the curve. He might
gust as well be blind man attempt
lng to pilot a high power gasoline
vehicle. The curve is abrupt and
long. He cannot see what is ahead.
Notwithstanding, the speed demon
continues on his wild course.
Then, with the uneXpectedness
(which commonly characterizes I'M
toward accidents, the driver sees a
strange stop signal thrust into the
Fbighway directly in his path. Not
80 strange. however, is the olive-drab
bclad figure which manipulated the
kcurious signal
SfMY gosh. he's a speed cop.'' the
motorist says TO himself II
scan't stop before / pass his signal.
I'm in for a stiff fine. Thank the
Fsstar, that dummy isn't a pedestrian.
p VI NIL lllIIl sure. NO more speeding
fon curves for me, This is a lesson
hnd I've learned it we'll"
The driver is unable to stop his car
fhefore he skids past the policeman's
gstop signal. The officer Is grave and
istern. The motorist offers no ex-
tcuses. The policeman records the
lhcense number of the machine the
F1rtver's name and address. After ex-
samining the operators permit of this
lOwner he orders him to drive slowly
ITO the downtown traffic court. There
EeXpeoitiously. the judge hears the
levidence. The driver offers no de-
Sfense. He pays his fine and departs,
bavowing that never again will he risk
Ehls life and those of other motorists
EDr pedestrians by driving recklessly
Rn curves.
4 Yes, actual cases like this will be
Hhe progeny of potentiality if the new
lsystem of driving recommended by
1.-The automotive engineers of the Bu-
lreau of Standards, under the leader
ship of S. w. Sparrow and H. C.
dickinson, is adopted as more salts
Factory than arbitrary speed laws by
the various States and the District.
The new system reduces the speed
sof your car In dangerous places and
increases it greatly above prevalent
limits over other stretches.
mo vehicle shall be operated at a
FBCCu olISIi lIldl II, CdIlllOI DE SIODp6u
within the assured clear course
ahead" This, in a nutshell, is the
new traffic regulation for country
wide use which Uncle Sans spe-
Cialfsts out Cleveland Park way have
originated. Please note the simplicity
of the driving rule. 1t is free of
frills, qualifying phrases and sidedoor
escapes. Any one who can read can
understand 1t. You don't have to
employ legal advice to interpret it.
it is designed to be one and the same
, for each and every one of the As
. States and the District. 1t is the best
, medicine for motoring evils which
recognized authority has compounded
''since the days when Hector was
pup
! JUST for your information, let us go
a. on a tour of verbal exploration
newborn proposal which promises to
reduce automobile accidents and to
/ add greater safety to vehicular and
pedestrian traffic on our highways
md byways. mo vehicle shall be
operated at a speed such that it can
d, not be stopped within the assured
clear course ahead" Course is that
space into which the oncoming driver
intends to proceed. That part of the
{ course which is certain to be free of
any legal obstruction at the time
when he reaches it is assured clear"
The new regulation is based on a
fundamental law of physics which
says that two bodies cannot occupy
! the same space at the same time"
I Collisions will be eliminated because
the clear coast forward" scheme pro-
Vides an unobstructed pathway. If
there are no other motor cars or if
there are no pedestrians in the visible
course ahead of your car. you logical
ly cannot find any vehicle or person
with which or whom to stage a grand
smashup.
Our existent speed laws dovetaiI
about as uniformly as the patterns in
a crazy quilt. Dependent on what
/ state you are operating your automo-
bile in, it Is a kind of e-for-alI
scramble to see who can go the fast
est Some States have no orthodox
speed limit. Their statutes require
that motorists travel at reasonable
speed. Other sections of the country
have speed limits as low as to 10
miles an hour. They are nothing more
than legal jokes, for no one pays any
attention to the ordinances. Other
States place the speed limit at 20,
20. 30 or 80 miles or more per hour.
Maryland divides her highways into
three speed zones, the range being
An arbitrary speed law is q failure
"a veritable fiat ~tire-because it
does not recognize the vagaries of
climate and season which may in a
few hours completely change the
ordinary safety factor of the same
improved thoroughfare. For in
stance, let us suppose that the speed
limit on a certain road is 35 miles an
hour. All well and good. When that
road Is In Spick and span condition
and dry as a drug store sponge, it is
perfectly safe as pathway for traf-
f1c that travels at a high speed Old
Mister Weatherman then may step
10 the stage front. He confers with
Jupiter Pluvius. A guIley-washing
rain ensues. The pavement which
when dry was safe for 80 miles an
hour drivers is converted into a zone
of hazard for motorists who travel
faster than / mile i'll. minutes. Jack
Frost may get busy Immediately after
the downpour and CONCEAL the little
drops of water into a crust of Sleet
The public highway becomes as slip
perry as a skating rink. Without skid
chains, the ordinary automobile can
not pass that way.
An arbitrary speed, which is safe
and sane on the straightaway, is as
dangerous as Satan's hellfire when it
comes to a. matter of rounding curves.
Cur mounting record of annual auto
mobile accidents is good evidence of
the ineffectiveness of prevalent speed
laws Last year $4,000 funerals and
45O 900 hospital cases were credited
TO the score of motoring accidents.
Report is to the effect that in these
= United States a soul speeds toward
Of