Evening star., 1926-03-28
SAFETY PARAMOUNT AIM
OF GREAT AUTO PARLEY
Hoover Conferences Adoption of Uni
form Traffic Code Based ON Aim
TO Conserve Human Life.
BY WILLIAM UILM.AN,

-
tate traffic movement was
strongly emphasized at the National
Conference on Street and Highway
Safety which completed it's sessions in
Washington during the past week.
called again by Secretary of Com
I.,crce Herbert Hoover to discuss the
broad problems Of safety as applied TO
the expedition of traffic flow in con-
Gested centers, leading engineers men
of Sciehce. autOmotive experts. police
officials. interested observers and 9TH
erS gathered here for what was un-
CueStionably the most detailed confer
ence ever held on the subject of traffic
control and life conservation.
Personal attendance at the meetings
alone can bring home the vast amount
of work being accomplished as re-
suit OF the Hoover conferences, the
literally enormous degree of intensive
investigation reSorted to and the law
iSh expenditure of time and energy de-
Va to this question. one which lead
c}.t everywhere in every line are
agreed is of first-rank national sig
nificance.
However. an attempt will be made
here to indicate what the conference
set out to accomplish, what it did and
what are its expectations for the flu
ture.
INFORM NOu6 Sought.
The present meeting was an out
growth of two previous conferences,
both of them called by Secretary
Hoover The motive underlying all
three kas to draft a uniform code of
laNTst which. if enacted by the indi-
Vidual States, would give to the
United States as a whole traffic
scheme standardized in basic principle
and for the most part uniform in its
conception of execution. The confer
. ence which completed its sessions at
he United States Chamber of Com
merco Building last week witnessed
The elimination of a variety OF en-
deaVorS.
The report of the committee on uni
formity of laws and regulations, Gen.
Nathan William MacChesney, vice
president of the American Bar ASSo-
citation. chairman. was adopted with
certain changes and is now ready for
presentation to State legislatures by
organizations within those jurisdic-
tons. Several important changes were
made in the original draft OF the act
as presented by the committee to the
conference at large, but in the main
the latter body saw fit to leave the
draft intact. 1t was recognized by the
conference that the committee on uni
fOrnity of laws and regulations had
given exhaustive study to the ques-
ton in hand; that it had heard the
reports of d wide variety of interests
associations and technical groups and
that as a result its findings were COM
pletely authoritative. soundly accurate
and based upon the foremost thought
of the Nation.
Every Phase Covered.
NOuhere was the iptansive cbaractaY.
of the conferences work better ex-
emplitied than in the report of this
committee. The entire subject is taken
up from end to end. There is not a
phase of traffic regulation not covered
in this report. 1t is. in most respects,
precisely what the conference set out
TO Formulate model law.
The general public certainly is not
aware of the great time and effort
spent In working out what may seem
to be matters of routine detail. That
these matters become more than Ques-
tions of routine detail when applied to
more than 100000 gasoline powered
vehicles is often overlooked.
In it's report the committee on uni
formity of laws stated that yellow
tail lights should be used hereafter.
inserting the word red" in brackets
TO indicate that inasmuch as so many
use they should be allowable for the
present The thought of the commit
tee was. however, that new vehicles
should be equipped with the yellow
tail lights and that as many motorists
as possible should change over.
This provision at first was accepted.
and then rejected after considerable
discussion. particularly by the Mich
tgan delegation, which insisted that
lCC1 400 Of ii
In widespread confusion and cause
considerable inconvenience to millions
upon millions of car owners. 1t will
be borne in mind that before reach
ing the floor of the conference this
question had been given the most
detailed study by the committee. and
that that group had expended a great
amount Of time and energy on that
point. The question then reached the
whole conference, where it came up
for further discussion.
Subject Is Reopened
Not daunted by passage of the act
with the yellow light clause intact,
the Michigan delegation renewed its
efforts, and on the last day of the
conference Secretary Hoover announc-
ed that the subject had been reopened
1t will now go before another COM
HlILleo COIIlpOSeu Oh Government eX-
perts. lighting leaders and others
technically interested for still more
detailed consideration. This will in
dicate, perhaps, the full thought given
by the conference to matters which
while of the most vital importance to
the public and motoring public, are
sometimes passed over as of little
real moment.
A brief summary is given here
with to show what the conference
agreed to in the matter of uniform
laws and regulations, and upon what
ground it is now standing in that
respect:
Uniform vehicle code. including %
a. uniform motor vehicle registration
and certificate of title act, (2) a uni
form vehicle operators and chauffeurs'
license act and 90 uniform act regu-
lating the operation of vehicles on
highways, should be enacted by each
of the States and the District OF Co
lumbia. The uniform vehicle code
should be supplemented by State ad-
ministrative regulations, which should,
so far as practicable, be developed
on uniform basis through cooper.
ative action of the associations of
officials concerned, particularly the
State highway officials and motor
vehicle commissioners, together with
joint committees, including other pub
lie officials, and representatives of
automobile clubs, scientific organiza-
tions and commercial and other bodies
concerned.
Pedestrian Curb Sought.
In view of the fact that fatal col
lisions of motor vehicles with pedes-
trians, already amounting to 60 per
cent of the total number of traffic
accidents, are increasing at a rate out
of proportion to the rate of increase