Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-08-24
BY H. CLIFFORD BROKAW,


The month Of August probably rep
resents to the trafic cop the toughest
part Of the year as far as his expert
ence Is concerned. Certainly all re-
ports seem to indicate that more peo-
pie are on our American highways dur
ing this month than at any other period
OF the year. More people are on vaca-
ton during August than at any other
time, and this in itself means endless
motor tours and consequently endless
activity on the part of the trafic po-
lcemen,
Principal Business.
The principal business Of most trafic
officers Is to help keep the fiow of
trafnc going smoothly. He Is employed
In behalf Of the motoring public so
that their touring experiences may be
Facilitated as much as possible. The
motorist who takes the attitude toward
the traffic officer that he is on the job
to make things more difficult has an
erroneous point of view, for quite the
opposite is ip accordance with the
facts. 1t would be difficult to conceive
the tangle into which automobiles ev-
erywhere would be involved were 1t not
for the important work of the traffic
officers. Every motorist can feel CRATE
full that these officers are on the job,
and every motorist should find satiSfac-
ton in the efficiency with which most
traffic is handled by those responsible
for it.
Smart Alecks" ReprOved.
The only person who needs to have
any antagonism respecting trafic on
Gals are those who are unwilling to
cooperate themselves in maintaining
the best possible flow of automotive
transportation. These are the smart
Alexis who have to go beyond all COM
mon sense In the speed with which they
travel who have to get out OF line to
pass other cars when such getting out
of line is dangerous. These are the
boys who cause most of the accidents,
and it Is well for the safety of people
in general that trafflc officers are avail
able to check their indiscretionS.
The primary function Of the trafhc
officer is to protect the life of citizens,
whether pedestrians or motorists. He
Is also interested in protecting prop
erty but this is comparatively q sec
ondary consideration. The strain of
this responsibility is tremendous, con-
Sequently If traffic officer after siren
uous hours at directing traffic seems to
be rather emphatic in his statements
TO those appearing 70 De violating the
rules, such conciseness can be readily
overlooked.
Assumption Of Directors.
These directors of traffic ordinarily
operate on the assumption that most
motorists expect to obey the law, and
that when minor violations are made
they are made by people who are igno-
rant of the regulations in effect. It Is
difficult for every motorist to know all
the regulations of the different villages,
cities and country through which he is
likely to go when on tour. The rules
and regulations in one village may be
quite different from those in the next,
and the laws of one State may make
one thing a violation of the rules,
whereas in another no violation would
be made.
To require the necessary technique Is
no small undertaking for the traffic
officer. For instance, he is supposed to
know by looking at passing truck
whether or not 1t is probably over
loaded and If so to estimate the proba-
bility Of accident and under what cir