Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-07-30
Safety of Stop Sign
Enforcement Doubted

To the Editor or the star:
In your Wednesday issue you carried
a front-page story to the effect that
approximately. three out OF four auto
mobile drivers failed to observe the
boulevard stop signs. When so large
proportion as Is per cent OF motorists
disregard q so-called safety regulation
1t behooves the responsible officials to
determine the reason therefor.
Except In the remote suburban dis
tricts, no street should be set aside for
fast driving unless the cross traffic (mo-
tor and pedestrian) is protected by sig
nal lights. Has 1t ever occurred to the
traffic experts that the great majority
of drivers drop into low gear and a
speed of about 3 to miles per hour as
a measure of safety? Rhode Island
avenue at First street may be cited as
an example. There Is considerable
traffic on First street to and from Sol
diers' Home on Sunday nights. but the
boulevard artists coming home from
Baltimore never stop to realize that the
cross traffic should in all fairness have
some rights. If on approaching slowly
in second gear the north or south bound
motorist observes that there is chance
for him to cross in safety, 1t is but log
ical that he should do so. II there
should happen to be lull in the boule-
ward traffic, which Is practically con-
tinuous. why should the driver come to
complete stop, then shift to low and
then to second gear and run the risk
of being hit by the Baltimore machine
which in the meantime has appeared
at high rate of speed, and which but
moment before was block or more
away? The matter should be handled
as Virginia handles the matte of rail-
| road grade crossings That State recog-
nizes the safey of a speed so low as to
be practical stop and the danger of a
| complete stop
Another fault Is the right -of-way
| rule. The erroneous form in which the
rule is so often stated is but a refiec-
ton of the natural tendency of the
human mind to state a proposition in
it's most logical aspect The vehicle on
the right has the right of way under
the regulations but the rule should be
| qualified by the statement that the
vehicles are approximately equally dis
tant from the point of intersection and
are proceeding at approximately the
same rate of speed
The official right-of-way rule and
| the boulevard system give too much
| license to the speed artists and the
careless drivers.
Several weeks ago R. L. Taylor the
motor dealer. was killed in a motor
accident in Cleveland Park Had the
vehicle proceeding north not come to
complete stop at the stop sign and
had the vehicle proceeding west not
been taking advantage of the high
! speed permitted on boulevards, the
| fatality might not have occurred The
| vehicle proceeding north would have
crossed the boulevard a few seconds
sooner II it had not been for the time
consumed in getting under way from a
| complete stop. Under the circum-
! stances 1t was fortunate that the north
bound vehicle was not hit amidships.
| The boulevard without lights has a
! legitimate function in the traffic sys-
| tenn but 1t should not be located in tn
! city proper. Rhode Island avenue
| Georgia avenue and Pennsylvania ave-
nus southeast. especially at Seventh
street. where there is a moving picture
/ thester and three public schools. are
| particularly dangerous to cross traffic
| and pedestrians. particularly in the
| evening. and until signal lights are
| installed, at least at convenient inter-
| sections. II full installation is not
| deemed practicable. the stop signs
| should be removed and the rule of rea-
sonable care and common sense applied
at each intersection. Fl. c. GAUSS.