Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-08-06
Keep to the Right!

1 4
ment are conducting a campaign to
eliminate the motorist who skirts traf.
lie and. in doing 50, drives or the
! wrong side of the street in such a way
as to block oncoming traffic. This
is laudable campaign, and should be
encouraged, but it is apparent to any
observer of traffic conditions in Wash
ington that in mine cases out of ten
the motorist who skirts traffic is
forced to these tactics by the slow.
driving, inconsiderata middle.of.the.
road hog who never will and never
does keep to the right and who, in ad.
dition. will not give way at the polite
foot OF a horn for passing traffic. It
would seem. therefore, that the Police
Department is attacking the effect of
the evil and not the cause.
Washington Is notorious for its
drivers who fail to keep to the right.
They refuse to give way for overtak-
Ing cars. they speed up when they
think they are about to be overtaken
and ordinary courtesy and decency
never occurs to them. They are a
menace to traffic and are the cause. in
the majority of cases, of the skirt
ing" which is being so vigorously
fought by the Police Department.
This class, unheeded for such a long
time by the police and traffic author
tiles. has grown to large proportions.
1t has now become an obstacle to
smooth and frictionless traffic move.
ment, even on the automatically
lighted streets. because one of its
members is sure to gum the works"
by either forcing overtaking cars to
drive on the wrong side of the street
or blocking traffic altogether.
There Is no possible excuse for this
type of driver, and there is likewise
no excuse for the Police Department
to ignore him further. In New York
City there were more than two thou
sand arrests for failure to keep to
the right" during the past year. In
Washington last year a paltry two
hundred were called to court on the
charge of driving on the wrong side
Of the street." but none, as far as can
be ascertained, for failure to keep to
the right" A motorist may drive on
the right side Of the street-that is, to
the right of the middle-and apparent
ly not violate any law in Washington,
a. s,, rxrf,a
motorist must drive on the right of
the right side of the street If he Is to
escape arrest. Furthermore, New
York police are enforcing this section
of the law despite the fact that in that
city it is permissible to overtake and
pass a car either on the right or the
left.
The motorist who skirts traffic
which is In it's proper place should
be promptly arrested, but the motorist
who skirts improperly placed traffic
should go scot free, and every driver
who is responsible for the "skirting"
tactics should be hailed into court for
failure to keep to the right" To
arrest the driver who is forced out of
position by the inconsiderate actions
Of other drivers Is the same thing as
arresting the motorfst who drives upon
the curb to avoid collision with a
speeding car. In a case Of this kind
the regulations have unquestionably
been violated by leaving the confines
of the street, but to lump on" this
motorist and let the speeding. reckless
driver go free would be the height Of
folly.
A campaign Of keep to the right"
would aid Washington's traffic. The
cause must be attacked and not the
result. It has been q long time since
the city has seen a campaign OF this
type, and a little attention to this
violation Of one of the cardinal rules
of the road will yield valuable benefits.