Evening star., 1935-05-12

Jugs CQe mlQQle OF une ROAD, ana
he right from an inner lane ol
elimination also Is sought of the
crossings, hesitates and, without
.ad.
a campaign of education being
!. Laubenheimer which seeks tt
S, some of which are violation:
lses against the Golden Rule ano
more than so per cent. In 5,45;
cases, representing minor violation:
mainly, the defendants had been re-
leased with a reprimand and warn
ing and in Ave cases the violators
were Jailed.
This is held to be the kind Of en-
forcement that counts. No winkine
at violators here, no ticket fixing. mol
any of the old familiar "1-have-a-
friend-in-the- department" stuff. AS 9
result the opinion seems to be pretty
general among the motorists in Mil.
waukee that if you break the traffit
laws you will have to pay the price
An alert trafic squad IS usually or
the lookout for volators, too, ant
that fact also Is pretty we'll known.
Respect for law in Milwaukee Is
said not to be altogether caused
through fear Of it. A large percentage
of Milwaukee's citizens are substantial
people who long have been property
minded" They own their own homes
and their own cars and they fee
that it pays in more ways than one
to keep out of accidents. This is an
important factor that may not be
recognized generally in looking about
for reasons for the city's success. Re-
sponsibility has tendency to develop
with ownership.
Good salesmanship already has been
listed as a factor. This is noticeable
particularly in the engineering work
For example. most cities build safety
islands, which in themselves are sup
posed to be sufficient to notify motor
lists that pedestrians must be pro-
tected. Milwaukee goes little bit
farther and warns motorists, too, of
the approach to the island by paint
AAA6 OH liiloBAlloly C<AGCIAoiOLA OA1 OAAC
pavement, running about 80 feet
toward the oncoming trafic. The
motorist first sees the painted extern
sion line and it hints strongly that
a safety island is just ahead. 80 he
turns mechanically, in plenty of time
to avoid hitting the island. The right
side of the island Is usually rounded.
making it easy and natural to swing
Of to the right.
According to Howard F. Ilgner
bureau chief of the department of
public works and traffic engineer,
Milwaukee does not believe that heavy
blocks of concrete and steel are need
ed to protect pedestrians. They do
protect pedestrians, of course-but,
unfortunately. in so doing they some
times kill motorists. In Milwaukee
the safety islands are unguarded by
rails or other protective equipment,
except rejecting sign. But they
are very well marked, with bases
painted bright yellow, the standard
color for the entire traffic plan. In
addition, there are Illuminated mark
ers at each corner, set down low
Just above the level of the platform
The yellow painted island. the pro-
jected lines, the lights and the
rounded corner make it easy and
rather pleasant for the driver to obey
the law-and, of course, 1t is human
nature to do things the easy, pleasant
way. This same salesmsnship idea is
also carried out in the timing Of the
intersection signals. Waits are short
for both traffic and pedestrians, 50
why try to crowd through? Why
rush? At best it Is only q few mo-
ments' wait
One Of the interesting engineering
developments in Milwaukee has been
the extensive "channelizing" Of traffic
through installation of a great many
bypasses. This has resulted not only
in making traffic conditions safer,
but also in greatly increasing and ex-
pediting the trafic flow. In some of
the wider intersections, where pos
sibly three or more streets come
together, this has been a real boon
to pedestrians because 1t made pos
sible the construction of additional
safety islands. AS some of these
crossings there are as many as three
islands for pedestrians. The lights,
of course, are perfectly synchronized,
so that if the pedestrian starts in
time he can get across without diff
ficulty. If he starts little bit late,
however, there is always a safety
island close at hand, and then only
short wait until he can proceed.
Illumination, Of course, plays an
important part in the engineering
work. Milwaukee did not cut down
its street lighting during the depres-
sion. Incidentally. the Police Depart
ment mas also maintained its full
quota of men throughout the depres-
sion. Unlike the policy followed In
many cities, no shrinkage was per-
mitted in either Of these basic matters
so essential to safety.
Two general lighting objectives are
sought: First, ample safety island
lighting in the form of the low
marker. placed right on the platform
of the island. These are colored
lights. but without glare. This first
objective has been pretty generally
realized. The second goal is a plan
of extremely high illumination, also
glareless. especially desirable on the
divided streets and the boulevard
systems. That plan, which is in use
in a limited way, according to Mr..
Ilgner, is the ideal street lighting
system. Lights are placed IS feet
high, with powerful illumination but
no glare. Too many communities fail
to realize the importance of efficient
lights rightly placed.
When you delve into the story of
Milwaukee's safety educational work
you again run into many ramifica-
tions and angles in which the CO.
operative activities of many groups
and individuals seem to dovetaiI to-
gether.
The Safety Commission might well
be called the clearing house for edu-
cation, for here DR.. B. L. Corbett, the
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