Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-02-07
RIGHT AND LEFT
PASSING FAVORED
EIdridge Says Plan Is Rene
dy for Motor Congestion.
Used Elsewhere.
BY WILLIAM ULLMAN.

Permission for motorists to pass
other vehicles ON either the right or
the left is the remedy for the manifold
traffic evils that have grown out of
the seemingly fixed habit of Washing
tonians to drive in the middle of the
street, in the opinion of Director of
Traffic NJ. O. Eldridge.
Both right and left hand passing
have been permitted on all one-way
streets since their establishment here
without any resultant accidents, and
authorization of the practice on two
way thoroughfares is believed to be the
simplest solution of the present prob
lens of congestion and wasted street
space.
Novelty for Motorists.
Such a revision of the traffic regu-
lations also would hold for motorists
the novelty of having a driving re-
striction withdrawn rather than added
and be a move, as many traffic stu
dents believe, in the direction of wider
law observance and greater safety
through the expedient of simplifica-
ton.
Innate selfishness and disregard for
the rights of others actuate the mid
dle-of the-road driver, Mr.. Eldridge be-
lieves. While the vehicle operator
who satisfies his greed and his
desire for speed by keeping in the
left-lane may regard himself as clever,
traffic excerpts look upon his action
not only as selfish, but also as the
mark Of the poorest kind of driver.
e. .;r~I, fv1nr
Mr.. Eldridge will defer any recon-
mendation of this character until he
has had an opportunity fully to weigh
the advantages of such a rule against
the objections raised to 1t.
The traffic director, however, con-
ours in the general belief that this
widespread driving vagary is one of
the factors that contributes most
heavily to the confusion and chaos on
the main arteries of local travel and
that it is productive of congestion and
danger that are unnecessary.
Practiced Elsewhere.
The system of permitting passing
on either side, as practiced in New
York Philadelphia, Chicago and many
other metropolitan areas would rem
edy the snarl which left-lane driving
has created, many observers of local
conditions believe.
That such a revision of the regu-
lations is under consideration by the
Traffic Bureau is admitted by Mr.. Ed
ridge in pointing out that he has
found motorists ready with but one
defense for left-lane driving.
"It is my experience" he said, that
those who never have driven under
the other system do not see it's safety.
They declare that they drive in the
middle of the street in the interest
of safety. They are afraid to keep
close to the right curb, they say, be-
cause of the danger of parked car
pulling out into the street or of q
pedestrian stepping out from the line
of standing machines"
Irrespective of the reasons they
give, what, in your opinion, is the
real basis for such driving?" Mr..
Eldridge was asked.
Speed and greed is the real reason
in a majority of cases" replied the
traffic director emphatically. Take
Sixteenth street, for example. Here
we find the worst evidence of middle
of-the-street driving. Certainly no
one could be afraid of a parked car
pulling out from the curb suddenly,
or OF peu6SlIidH SASPpluS AAOiII bC-
hind a standing machine on this thor
oughfare. The curb on this street is
kept absolutely clear during the hours
of heavy travel. A motorist can see
a pedestrian several blocks ahead.
Selffshness Blamed.
"It may be true that fear forces
drivers into the center Of the dimly
lighted suburban street, but the same
persons will get as far to the left as
possible on Sixteenth street in broad
daylight when every object for blocks
ahead is plainly visible. Thus, in the
latter instance-the one that really is
hazardous and harmful is not fear
but greed and selfishness that guides
the action"
If right-hand driving succeeds in
convincing pedestrians of the mistake
of stepping out from behind parked
cars in the middle of the block, 1t
will prove a blessing for motorists
and pedestrians alike and a decided
betterment in the whole local scheme
of traffic manipulation. in the opinion
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