The Washington times., 1925-07-11
with The
IAlibi Artists.
Road Hogs and Say
Walkers Would Dis
appear Under
Light Plan
Make intersections Safe
NJ nnniArn nr.nnTIcAI.

" AldAc uTlNSES IIlOIS fSHElUAS
and considerate of each other.
But know that the road hog
Is responsible for more accidents
than any other individual" the
Traffic Director is quoted. in con-
nection with the fatality on Con-
1ecticut avenue near Porter
street.
As the Director admits, appar-
emily, that he doesn't know what
can be done In such cases. the
Aiibi Column IL perhaps pardon
able FOR offering a suggestion that
may help to relieve his perplexity.
The road hog is a nuisance.
And he's q worse nuisance be-
cause he's hard to catch. In our
court, we've never heard OF a.
case where q road hog was pun.
ished for being a road hog. You
can't get him unless his hoggish.
ness results in an accident. And
IL he's foxy enough to keep his
own car from being scratched,
you can't get him then.
There's no doubt that the traf.
fic regulations give the road hog
an advantage over decent people.
II you bump him in trying to get
by. then the collision is your
fault. You could have prevented
the accident by turning out
further or by not trying to pass.
Safety is more important than
speed. If you turn cut tar
enough to avoid hitting him. and
slam car going the other way.
it's your fault again. because you
were on the wrong side.
II you perform your plain duty
as citizen, and bring him in to
court on a warrant, he'll prob.
ably have three or four fellow
hogs along with him, and out
swear you. And even If you win
the case, he'll get q SIS or $40
fine. and that isn't worth the
trouble.
We can't blame the director
for not knowing what to 90 In
such q case. It's o problem that
requires pretty intricate analysis
to get at the roots Of It.
And you can't get at the roots
OF Il by digging on only one side.
Let's hear what the road-hog has
to grunt.
Only about 10 per cent Of these
animals are fu1l-blooded speci-
ments. The other 80 per cent or
80 are made and not born. They
keep to the middle Of the road
because they have found by ex-
perience that it's safer there.
TEY SAfw I'll I'd
fifteen miles an hour or so, and
parked car line, you haven't
walker pops out suddenly in
front of you. II you're running
ten feet from the jay-walkers'
point OF egress, you may have
time to avoid him.
Every parked car is an ambush
for a Jay-walker accident, and If
you've ever lodged one, you'n
forever after drive as far from
the sidewalk as Heaven will per
nit. Most anyone would rather
be q roaA-hog than the star wit
ness at coroner's inquest.
Then there's the jay-walker's
twin, the Armless Wonder-the
boob driver who pulls out sud
denly from the curb without
warning. After missing one or
two Of these curious creatures,
you'll form the habit of driving
In the center of the road.
There's too many jay-walkers
and curb.hopping drivers for us
to run close to the sidewalk
without danger OF appearing at
the morgue in one capacity or
another. We can't get rid OF the
road-hog until we get rid OK
these other two pests.
Most drivers keep pretty well
to the middle Of the road nova
days, and yet there's an average
Of four or five people knocked
down daily by autos. Force traf-
fic in toward the curb, and you'll
see that number increased, with
a death now and then for er4-
phasis.
The jay walker crosses in the
middle Of the block because he's
cross there as it IL to cross at
the intersection.
Make the intersection noticea-
bly, safer than the middle Of the
block, and jay walking will drop
out, like celluloid collars and
mustache cups.
Intersections can be made fool
proof by the establishment Of
traffic signal lights. That's the
first step toward eliminating tho
road hog.
The other road-hog breeder,
the curb-hopping nit-wit, may be
suppressed to a considerable ex-
tent by prescribing little more
in detail, the process OF pulling
out.
A regulation to the effect, for
instance. that when the driver
has pulled out far enough for
his line of vision to clear the
parked cars he must come to a
complete stop, hold out his arm
and face In the direction of on
coming traffic before proceeding,
would help considerably.
BY this, or similar means,
make driving near the curb safe,
and the directors perplexity
about what to do with road-hogs
will disappear, and the road
hogs (all but the ten percent of
full-blooded stock will disappear
with It.