Evening star., 1936-06-27

| here. The roads are made for man, not
| man for the roads. Somehow the accent
| Is misplaced. The roads are made for
motor cars simply. The more of them
and the faster they go
Well. the sum of injuries and deaths
is staggering The whole trafnc prob
lem is perplexing, since it is so tied up
with some Of the best and some of the
worst of mans proclivities.
While the experts wrestle with the
problems, It behooves the average man,
whether motorist or otherwise, TO watch
| out, both while riding and afoot. The
man who operates a car is often a very
careless pedestrian, because he has for
| gotten, If he ever knew, the plain and
manifold dangers which threaten him on
sidewalk or in crossing the street.
%$&
Individual realization of the constant
dangers of modern trafac is the best
solution Of the problem for the indi-
| vidual
We do not mean in theory. or in dis
| cuSsion, but actually while walking
along. The danger Is there and what
safety there remains will be there. too,
| If the individual constantly keeps In
mind the dangers as they come up.
The modern attitude Of the driver is
watch outl" When he replaces that
with a basic idea, that he simply will
not hurt any one, the traffic problem
will be solved. At present he does not
seem to care. He has power and speed
at his command and he uses it, and
everybody must watch out"
Well, let those who walk watch out,
then.
1t is a good tip, and one which We all
must heed, not In the living room or on
paper, but on the street. in the street,
while the dangers actually menace.
Once this idea of constant danger gets
into all peoples heads there will be q
decided leSsing of traffic accidents.
AS 1t is today, thousands of people,
though they read about accidents of
others, never give the possibility of acci-
dent to themselves q thought, until it
happens. Then 1t is too late. Or is it?
~ -
We city people are so used, as a class,
to sitting comfortably in easy chairs,
that we ride around town at all hours
as unconcerned as If we were at home
at the dinner table. You see old ladies
in buses as trusting as if the Lord were
personally in charge Of the vehicles
when all the time in command of the
bus Is q very much harassed young man
who spent his early years on a nearby
farm, in all probability a young fellow
who has to pilot his numbering craft
through the traffic, watch the curb for
passengers, let passengers of, make
change, sell tokens and passes with one
hand and guide with the other, try TO
tell the difference between those on the
curb who want TO get on and those who
don't, but who still make out as II they do.
Well, it's a great strain, it would seem,
and all is not gold that glitters in the
life of the modern bus driver. All the
taxi men curse him and his vehicle. They
take other streets, so they say, to get
out of his way. Passenger vehicle drivers
call his bus a nuisance. What they
sometimes call him wouldn't bear re-
peating
What we are getting at is that modern
traffic is an individual problem. as well
as a mass problem. A cut in the head
when a car knocks you down may not be
as bad as the shock and it's final re-
suits If it Is to be every man for himself
on modern city streets. then 1t plainly
behooves every one to keep that fact in
mind when actually in the streets and
to think danger and how to escape it.
Don't think you are safe just because
you are in a vehicle. private or public.
You can be hurt that way just as well
as another Don't we know i'll So say
We all, and the only thing to do, and
even it may not work, is to realize that
modern traffic Is q personal, individual
problem, not just something for highly
paid experts to solve around mahogany
table in a fine big marble building.