Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-05-03
Change the Left Turn!

If Commissioner Crosby is willing, as
he stated in an interview yesterday, to
take the advice of experts in regard to
fundamentals Of traffic control, WASH
ington will soon be rid of the left-hand
turn for automobiles that has made
it the laughing stock of the country.
For in 1926 the greatest body of ex-
perts ever gathered together - the
Hoover Conference on Street and High
way Safety-enphatically Endorsed the
inside left turn, directly contrary to the
rotary turn used at present in the Ma
tional Capital, and again Endorsed it a
few months ago in private poll con-
Quoted by The Star. Besides this over
whelming sentiment against the rotary
turn and for the fundamentally sound
inside turn, every large city in the
United states, with the single exeep-
ton of Cleveland, uses what is COM
monty known as the Hoover turn.
The imposition of the rotary turn on
helpless Washington by the traffic of
fee has been its major blunder, and it
is refreshing indeed to learn that the
new Commissioner stands ready and
anxious to correct it, if convinced that
it is out of harmony with countrywide
opinion on this vitality important SUBJ
ject., If the only indictment of the ro-
tary turn were that it placed the Ma
tional Capital in the anomalous position
of slurring the need for traffic uniform
ity in city that above all should be in
step with the progressive traffic prac-
tees of the rest of the United States,
on account of the great number of mo-
florists who annually visit it, it would
be enough, but there are so many
counts against it that it is difficult to
understand why any city should toll
crate it for moment.
The rotary turn is fundamentally I'M
sound from traffic movement stand
point because it turns motorists across
the line of cars coming from their
rear. 1t slows down and congests all
trafic, which is directly opposed to all
correct theories of avoiding congestion
and keeping traffic moving with due
regard to safety. It promotes bad
driving habits and is dangerous in the
extreme because it places turning cars,
which have just begun to move, in the
path of speeding motorists who are try
ing to beat lights or policemen's signals.
Where traffic officers are stationed it
makes mandatory the weaving from
one lane of travel to another because
the motorist can never tell until he
reaches the intersection whether a po-
liceman is on duty. When two or more
cars are waiting to complete. left
hand turn it almost invariably prevents
others from making the innocuous right
hand turn. At corners where there is
heavy bus traffic there is neither a ro-
tary turn nor any other recog-
nizable one because of the unwieldiness
of the big vehicles. At these points it
is mongrel turn that is the product
only of traffic nightmare. And, last
ly, the traffic Office itself demonstrates
no uniformity even in the use of its
pet scheme. With policemen or lights
the rotary turn is supposed to be in
effect and at all other points the motor
ist is supposed to use the inside or
Hoover turn. In actual practice, how
ever, at certain points, with policemen
or lights the Hoover turn is used to
avoid congestion, while at unregulated
intersections the befuddled motorist,
hopelessly confused by being taught bad
driving habits, will use the outside turn
to the imminent danger of himself and
all others within range. And despite
the fact that the regulations state clear
ly that the inside turn is to be used
at unregulated intersections not a sin
gle arrest has ever been noted for this
dangerous breach of common sense.
Commissioner Crosby has already
demonstrated by his summary order to
change the timing of lights at the vari-
Gus circles that he intends to be I'M
hampered in traffic regulation. He
can do no greater service for the motor
lists of the city and for the thousands of
out-of-town visiting motorists than to do
away, once for all, with a traffic
condition that fosters nothing but dan
ger, confusion and congestion.
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Mayor Walker of New York is com =