Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-01-13
In the Motor World
BY q. A HOWARD.

LIN ELI over Improvement III
- Washington'S motor vehicle
accident record in 1923
- Traffic Director William H
Harland already has set out, al
though the new year still is in its
christening robes, to devise plans
to bring about even greater re-
suits in 1929.
Mr.. Harland has several schemes
under consideration, the most
drastic of which is aimed at reck-
less and careless drivers, more
particularly those not involved in
serious accidents, but responsible
to a large extent for the annual
crop of crumpled or denied
tenders, broken running boards
and Shimmying bumpers. This
class of driver, in the opinion of
the traffic director, has been
ignored more or less in the past
because of attention given the
more important problem of reg
ulating and Furnishing fragrant
violatorS Of traffic rules, who run
down pedestrians, ignore stop
signs and other traffic markers
and otherwise. constitute a menace
while at the steering wheel.
Would Suspend Permits.
What Mr.. Harland proposes to
do is to suspend the permit of
every driver involved in an acct
dent, regardless how minor it's
nature, pending investigation to
determine responsibility. It is his
theory that some one is to blame
for every accident, and it might
be in the interest Of safety to fix
the responsibility and punish
those who cause the minor as we'll
as the major accidents. A driver
who merely crumples a fender
through carelesSneSS, he believes,
might later develop into a reck-
less driver of the most serious
type, unless curbed in the Adde'S
cent stage.
If this plan is adopted, and it
most likely will be in the near
future, there will be no more out
of-court or curbStone settlements
between two drivers whose cars
crash on the street and the in
jurieS are confined entirely to the
vehicles. The police would be in
structed to make a complete re-
port OF such accidents to the
Traffic Bureau, and an inveStiga-
ton would be launched immedi-
ately to determine responsibility.
Permits of both drivers would be
suspended during the inquiry.
Thus, if no additional punishment
was inflicted other than the sus-
pension of a permit for three, four
or I'VE days, Mr.. Harland feels
confident this IL Jnvenience alone
probably would be sufficient in
most Of the minor accident cases
to make drivers more careful.
Cooperation Credited for Record.
The improvement in the traffic
accident and fatality records last
year was not due wholly to the
additional regulations put into
the traffic code, or to the extension
Of the automatic traffic lights, al
though they are deserving of some
share of the credit, according to
Mr.. Harland. Cooperation of the
drivers, the police, the courts, the
public schools and the press, he
said, also contributed much to the
success OF the continuous cam
paign throughout the IL months
to make the streets a safer place
for the pedestrian as we'll as the
motorist.
IT cannot too strongly empha-
size that there was no single fac
tor responsible for the good traffic
record of 1928" Mr.. Harland de-
clared. "It was the combination
and coordination of all agencies
vitality concerned with public
safety and the motorists them
selves that deserve commenda-
ton.
There is, however, considerable
room for improvement, which
must be brought about this year.
The continued cooperation of the
motorists. the press, the police and
the courts is essential. The schools
also should extend their safety
education work, for there is the
most potent field for the disSemi-
nation Of the gospel of safety"
Study Model Code.
Mr.. Harland and his assistant
Maurice o. Eldridge are still dis
cussing with the traffic council
the model municipal code worked
out by the National Conference
on Street and Highway Safety,
under the craftsmanship of PreSi-
dent-elect Hoover, then Secretary
of Commerce. Section by section
this volume is being studied in
minute detail with a view to ad-
juSting the traffic regulations of
the District to conform so far as
is practicable with provisions of
the So-called model.