Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-02-10
Driving Remedies Cited.
Observer Tells Why Autoists
Keep TO Center.

| was very much interested In read
ing your front-page article by William
Ullman in today's issue of The Sunday
Star
1t does seem that traffic conditions
might be improved in the City OF
washington IL each driver would keep
in mind the rights of other motorists.
and OF pedestrians. / believe 1t IL
going to mean a matter of education,
however. and any space your splendid
paper gives to the subject l am sure
will be appreciated by the people OF
the District and enyirons. l think
this question liz not only one of edu-
eating the driver but also the pedes-,
tf'ian.
From observations have made
there are three outstanding reasons
why some drivers hold to near the
center of the street. namely. az the
common practice OF pedestrians SUD
denly to step out into the roadway
from the curb or from between cars
parked along the curb, affording very
little opportunity to the driver to avoid
accidents; (2) the tendency Of some
drivers suddenly to emerge from their
parking position to the traffic chan
mel, providing a very fertile field for
collisions: t3) the center lanes promote
q greater vision at street intersections.
80 that approaching traffic coming
from the right can be better observed.
The first two of these reasons call
FOR greater care on the part of pedes-
TRANS and the drivers OF cars. 1t 10
not meant by this statement to try to
justify improper driving in the center
channels. but to try to get al the rea-
son for 1t. The racing habit, formed
on the light-contrOlled streets, in also
partly responsible for this center.
channel driving.
One OF the principal points made in
MIR. Ullmans article was the waste OF
certain percentage of the roadway
adjoining tho curb That is a good
point, and while on the subject of the
utilization Of the full street space in
these times of heavy traffic. how about
the tremendous waste Of space which
occurs between street intersections on
the thOrOuRhferes which are controlled
by automatic liGhtE-Sixteenth street,
for example? l think the light method
OF traffic control has been in opera
ton long enough now to justify some
observations by the drivers of the Dis
trict, and | would like to see The Star
have prepared and printed a question
naire for drivers to answer, SO that
the opinion Of the driving public might
Through a uestionnaire you could
probably get observations from great
many drivers who would not take the
time or trouble to write a letter about
1t, and those observations would un-
doubtedly be of value in reaching con-
illusions as to what the drivers them
selves think are the safest and best
means of controlling traf1c.
There Is not the least doubt about
traffic being DELAYED by the automatic
light-contrOl method When | speak
of the light control method ! am not
referring to the one or more instances
such as at Fifteenth street and New
York avenue, where the lights merely
indicate the direction OF the traffic
officer in charge at that point; / think
traffic has been helped considerably at
that point-but l am referring to such
highways az Sixteenth street and Mas
sachusetts avenue. l think every mo-
torist will admit that he can make
better lawful time on any other street
than these two beautiful arterial
highways. In addition to the slowing
up of trafic on such lighted highways,
contend that there In considerably
more real danger. reckless driving
and traffic law violations than on
other streets. and It occurs in this
way:
Every driver has learned that on
the light controlled streets, unless you
make a certain speed. you cannot make
the combination OF lights which will
permit you to travel over few blocks.
Then, when you come to a stop. with
cars packed on all sides. there In
wait until the light changes, then
grand rush and jockeying for position
to see who can get out In front.
In this jockeying for position the
tendency for many is to crowd out to-
ward the middle of the street, and
many do not hesitate to pass on the
on the left. Then the fellows who get
out in front. knowing that II they get
through the group Of green lights too
soon they will have to wait for the
next group of red lights TO change.
slow up, with the result that a por-
ton of the run OF cars in that group
get caught with the red lights on the
next group. Whether the traffic acct
dents on the light controlled streets
indicate IL or not. there In more real
danger, reckless and dif1cult driving
on these streets than on others with
more traffic.
The feeling of drivers toward this
system of traf1c CONTROL could not be
change in the volume Of trafic on the
non-controlled streets - Thirteenth,
Fourteenth, Fifteenth, Seventeenth,
etc-since the installation of the
lights on sixteenth street. One can
start downtown in the morning or
back in the evening on other streets
and roll along in an uninterrupted
stream at a much safer rate of speed
than is used on Sixteenth street on
the green lights and reach his destina-
ton much sooner and with much less
danger and nervous tension than on
Sixteenth street or Massachusetts, ave
nue.. without the lights / am sure
sixteenth street and Massachusetts
avenue would accommodate twice the
trafic they now have and with less
danger and q better observance OF
traffic regulations in general, and
these two magnificent highways would
be the two arterial highways for traf-
fic that they were intended to be.
Cross town traffic ia as heavy on
Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Seven
teenth streets. and 1t finds it's way
through very nicely, and the north and
south traffic on these streets and
others is kept well separated and rolls
along uninterruptealy.
Ny idea about traffic is to keep it
moving along at a safe pace and avoid
congestion. The lighting system gath
ers traffic into fiocks or punches, then
creates racing habits long enough to
permit you to get separated again into
natural, safe positions then stops
everybody long enough to get punched
again. Compare Sixteenth street with
Thirteenth. Fifteenth. Seventeenth, or
even Fourteenth street. with its car
line, and 1t does not take a traffic
f..AA rf,
tons are best.
1 believe your paper would be doing
the District a real service to get the
opinions of the drivers on this ques-
ton. | want it understood that l am
nd always have been willing to cheer