Evening star., 1932-04-24
FEATURE of the Bicenten.

FEATURE of the Bicenten-
" nial and an event of in
n terest to the motoring and
pedestrian public alike
will take place Saturday of this
week, when, at $50 am, a parade
of the school boy patrols will be
AeId.
This outfit, numbering $500
children Of the District of Co
lumbia, sponsored and equipped
by the American Automobile As
sociation, and receiving full CO.
operation of the Metropolitan Po-
lice Department, will leave the
Peace Monument and continue
along Pennsylvania avenue to
Fifteenth street, where they will
proceed south to Constitution
avenue, the place of disbanding.
Members of the High School Cadet
Corps also will march and five
bands are planned to enliven the
journey.
Deserving of Praise.
The school boy patrols have
done much to prevent accidents
in the National Capital and their
efforts are deserving Of much
praise. More than 35 youngsters
who have received citations for
meritoriouS services during the
past year will head the parade in
automobiles as place OF honor.
According to reports from r. K.
White, assistant general sales
manager of the recently organized
Buick-Olds-Ponti Sales Co., the
General Motors exhibits in SIS
cities was a far greater success
than anticipated. With an ex-
pected attendance of 3,500,000 the
sum totals for the various dis
plays were approximately 5,O0O,-
600.
Last week this column urged
every motorist to heed the traffic
light signals. An interesting es-
innate on time spent by waiting
drivers throughout the country is
presented at this time. However,
no matter how long the wait may
be, it is well worth it.
Years of Waiting.
Motorists in American cities
spend from 27 to 35 years every
day. all told, waiting for the red
light to turn green. In large
cities, with traffic lights at every
corner, the average waiting time
in the average days driving, in
vestigation by the American Mo-
torists' Association shows, is from
five to nine minutes. In smaller
communities with fewer lights,
the average is about two minutes.
On the open highway. where
lights are placed infrequently and
at main road intersections, less
than a minute is the average.
Our figures, incomplete, from
a number of cities" says Thomas
J. Keefe, general manager OF the
A. M. A., indicate that only one
motorist out of five drives his car
every day. Thus it would follow
that only one-flfth OF the l5,00O,-
900 automobile drivers In cities
have the daily wait. Three mil.
lion drivers waiting an average OF
only five minutes a day on TRAFFIC
lights figures out a total waiting
time of 27 years each day. This
is merely one of many rules OF
the road almost universally OBJ
served. It tells of the other side
of automobiling that seldom is
thought of when accident statls-
tics are played up.
"a great deal of this waiting
time, perhaps four-f1fths of it, Is
wholly justified. Some is not.
There are thousands OF street IN
tersections where motorists are
required to wait too long. Ine
growing use of staggered lights
permitting continuous passage on
arterial and other highways Is
cutting down the waiting time,
however. and further d1mlnutlon
may be expected as the staggered
lights become more general.
Whatever saving can be ell
fected in safety will be welcome.
The loss lies not only in the wait.
ing time. How many millions OF
gallons of gasoline are idled away
before red lights annually is be,
vond calculation, but the total
must represent a fortune every
year" the A. M. A. statement con-
CludeS.