Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-01-02
The Merchants Request.

IN pointing out the difficulties and
confusion of Washington's peculiar"
left-hand turn for motorists as q
preface to its reasonable request for
signs advising visitors of what they
may expect when they reach the heart
OF the city, the Merchants and Manu-
lecturers Association does not go nearlv
far enough. There are many more diff
11culties and many more reasons for
confusion than were enumerated in the
associations proposal to the Commits
Sioners.
The merchants body, for instance,
pointed out that there are two different
methods of making the left-hand turn
in Washington-one method for con-
trolled intersections and the other for
uncontrolled crossings. AS a matter of
fact, there is different method at al
most every intersection, and this is the
condition that has made and is making
the National Capital the laughing stock
Of trafic experts the country over.
At a crossing controlled by either
lights or policemen the motorist is sup
posed to make the outside turn, yet at
several intersections of this type the
Hoover turn, the inside maneuver used
in practically every city but Washing
ton, Is still in effect. At corners which
have no lights or policemen the motor
list is supposed to make the inside turn.
Yet SO great is the confusion In the
minds of many Washington drivers that
the outside turn will be seen at such
points almost as much as the proper
method of turning.
And there are different methods of
making the turn even at crossings
where there are lights and policemen.
At Fourteenth and Pennsylvania ave-
nue. will be observed the rotary" turn,
as the traffic Office would have it. Here
policeman is on duty. At Twelfth
and K streets, with heavy bus traffic
and lights, will be observed a mongrel
turn, Of which even the traffic Office
would not be proud to claim parentage.
The entire street is blocked, and the
buses turn not from the outside, but
from the inside, and begin the maneu-
yer before they enter the intersection.
The individual policemen are said to
be in favor Of the rotary turn. Yet,
each one seemingly has a different
idea Of what it is all about. One police
man will give two sharp whistle blasts,
close together, for completion of the
turn. Another will give two blasts
properly spaced. Another will motion
motorists to complete the turn after the
first blast, holding up though trafbc
until the stream has Strengthened out.
Another, even after the second blast,
will wave through speeding cars to the
imminent danger of drivers attempting
to complete turn, evidently expecting
the latter not only to be mind readers,
but to have eyes in the back of their
heads. And still another disdains the
use of whistle at all and languidly
waves his arms in what are meant to be
traffic signals, but which look more
like the slow gyrations of a windmill.
So while the merchants and manu-
facturers' request for signs is a reason
able one, it can be seen that the plan
presents its own difficulties. If enough
signs were painted to illustrate Wash
ington's idiosyncrasies In the matter of
the left-hand turn they would extend
from here to Baltimore, and If the
young motorist tried to puzzle them all
out he probably would be an old man
by the time he reached Washington
How much better it would be TO aban-
don once and for all this pet" scheme
that has literally been showed down the
Threats of District residents and return
to normally in the regulation of one
of the most vitality important ma
neuvers in trafic. The Hoover turn,
or the inside turn, satisfies the needs
of such congested traffic centers as New
York, Philadelphia and Chicago, and
/ it is getting to be a little tiresome to
have Washington persistently cling to
an Anticipated, dangerous, confusing
and fundamentally unsound method.
! IJoIidav ceIehrations SUGGEST that the