Evening star., 1935-10-23
GONG SIGNALS USE.
W|THL|GHTS URGED.
Dr.. Winifred Richmond Cites
Reinforcement of Eye
by Sounds.

motorists and pedestrians is advocat-
ed in a letter to The Star Safety
Council from Dr. Winifred Richmond,
psychologist at St. Elizabeth'S Hos
pital.
Il have been following The Star
campaign against reckless driving
with considerable interest" Dr. Rich
mond said, land although have no
desire to see my name in print, feel
1t incumbent upon me to call atten-
tion to a matter concerning the con-
troll of crossings, which I have seen
only incidentally mentioned.
Sound Reinforces Eye.
Being a psychologist. I am accus-
toned to think of peoples ability to
respond to signals of various sorts,
and know that when the eye can be
reinforced by the ear the chances of
failure to respond are cut in two. You
realize, of course, that when either
pedestrian or motorist comes to traf-
fic light eyes must be glued upon it to
enable one to know when to stop,
start, and so on. Many traffic lights
are in such position that the motor
iSt cannot see them if there is a car
ahead, or if he stops at the white line
he must duck his head and peer out
the windshield to see when the light
is changing And often when the eau
tion light comes on as he is nearing
the intersection, he considers it the
least of two evils to dash ahead any
way. So much for the motorist.
THE pedestrian is in worse situa-
tion, because he must stand on the
sidewalk watching the light, and if he
misses two seconds in its changing he
has that much less time to make the
crossing. and as every one knows he is
likely to be caught by cars making
right and left turns, at that.
Gives Sense of Security.
Having lived more or less on the
West Coast, I have become accus-
toned to the gong as reinforcement
of the lights, and know what feel
ing Of security it gives one. both as
motorist and pedestrian. The gong
sounds when the caution light comes
on. and all vehicles stop. There IS no
attempting to beat the traffic light.
The gong means stop. and the motor
ist goes on at his peril, but the pedeS-
trian starts and the street is clear
until he is at least half way across. so
there is no being caught by turning
autos When the second gong sounds,
the traffic starts on the green light.
OF course, at crowded intersections
pedestrians continue to move until the
gong sounds again and some OF them
will be caught by turning vehicles. but
there probably should be no turns at
badly crowded intersections anyway.
This seems to me very much bet
ter than depending on the light alone.
I have seen numerous complaints in
the papers about pedestrians looking
around, being interested in conversa-
ton, even reading papers, and not
noticing the lights. With the gong Sys-
TEN, it is not necessary for anybody to
keep his eyes glued on the light. The
gong means stop or go. and sounds
catch the attention much more easily
than sights anyway. No matter in
what position one is standing sound
strikes his ear without his co-opera-
tion, but he must give his attention
and cooperation every second to the
lights
Excerpts From Letters.
The letter from Dr. Richmond is
one Of hundreds which have been
received by The Star Safety Council
dealing with various phases of the
traffic problem. Excerpts from some
of these letters follow:
"As a temporary resident Of Wash
tngton during your safety campaign,
I was interested to the extent OF ques-
tioning several taxi drivers as to its
progress and usefulness. A majority of
the taxi drivers with whom talked
expressed positive conviction on the
subject. The substance Of their replies
to my inquiries was-this campaign
won't do any good as long as the So
called privileged officials with low
numbers are permitted to violate the
traffic rules with immunity.
"It would seem that since this i'm
preston appears to exist in their
minds, whether incorrectly or not,
that an effort to eradicate that i'm
preston would do much toward insur-
ing the cooperation Of others.
Whether those with low numbers can
be made subject to the police disci-
pline Is debatable subject, but cor
rection Of the impression that they
are immune to the traffic rules would
help. JOSEPH FISH"
'Tnclosed find my signed Safe Driv-
ing Pledge. please send me sticker
for my car.
Il drive my car every day, see by
experience that the drivers are all in
a hurry to get nowhere, they weave in
and out of traffic and pass on the
right side II possible to crowd by.
which Is one Of the worst violations of
the law. 1t seems to me that most of
the drivers, especially the taxi drivers,
are all for self; they think that no one
else has a right on the street.
JAMES A. GEIMAN."
"The latest bit of humor to be in
tected into the hubbub over traffic
conditions in Washington is afforded
by the Kiwanis footprints importun-
ing walkers not to get hurt. matched
only by the droll statement of the
Director Of Traffic that the pedestrian
constitutes the greatest traffic menace
in Washington. Now let the Rotarians
or the Lions paint some signs on the
roadways admonishing motorists to
give the pedestrian break in making
right and left hand turns. The
authorities would probably object to
such signs on the ground that they
would slow up the traffic.
But after all, why worry about the
pedestrian problem anyhow? 1t is
really solving itself through the rapid
extinction of the pedestrian, acceler-
ated by the policy Of traffic regula-
tion in Washington promised on the
view that the pedestrian is an unnec-
essary evil. The process of extermina-
ton may take little longer in other
more backward cities which insist on
doing something to keep the pedes-