Evening star., 1938-10-25
CITY HEADS SEEK
PEDESTRIAN RULE
V|EWSAT HEARING
Date of Special Session
to Give Ample Time to
Secure Opinions.
LARGE MEETING PLACE
MAY BE SELECTED
Commissions Decline to Favor
Any Specific Plan-Wide
Support Is Necessary.


Decision to submit the question Of
pedestrian control to the residents Of
Washington, at special public hear
ing to be held in the near future, was
reached today by the Commissioners.
The date of the hearing is to be
announced soon 1t will be held after
ample time has been allowed for va
rious groups to be prepared to submit
their recommendations.
The Engineer Commissioner, David
McCoach, jr., said he hoped for a
very full attendance by Washington
residents and that if necessary to ac-
commodate the crowd it could be
planned to have the meeting in some
large auditorium outside the District
Building. Decision to hold the hear
ing was reached at a session of the
Board of Commissioners today at the
residence of Commissioner Melvin C.
Hazen. because the latter was con.
fined to his home with a cold.
General Support Necessary.
Both Commissioner Hazen and Col.
McCoach, in separate statements last
Saturday, approved the idea of pedes-
TRAN control lin principle" neither
being willing to commit himself fin-
ally either as to the general idea or
n@tl -
questioned yhether such a rule could
be effectively enforced with the pres
ent number of police available at in.
tersections, and Col. McCoach added
that he was convinced no municipal
regulation could succeed without the
approval of substantial majority Of
| the residents. It was for this reason
that he suggested the special public
hearing. as a means of testing public
sentiment
In his statement last Saturday Com.
missioner HaZen said the Commits.
sioners would be forced to adopt some
/ form of pedestrian control If WASH
ington residents persisted in getting
/ themselves killed by attempting to
cross streets when they did not have
legal right of way
Adoption of pedestrian control regu-
lations for at least a, trial period was
urged meanwhile by Richmond B.
Keech, vice chairman of the Public
Utilities Commission.
He said he thoroughly agrees with
Mr.. Hazen, Traffic Director William A.
Van Duzer, Police Supt Ernest w.
Brown and other municipal officials
that some form of control is needed to
protect pedestrians who refuse to look
out for themselves
1T has long been a fact" he de-
clared, that you must try to protect
people against themselves"
Commissioner Keech said he was
under the impression that it has been
determined by law that the District
| has legal right to promulgate rules
to control pedestrian movements, and
that he could see no reason why
Washington should not try such regu-
lations for at least an experimental
period.
District Has Law.
The District does have the authority
to make it misdemeanor for a per-
son on foot to disregard traffic rules.
But the Commissioners have failed to
exercise this power. The Traffic Act
was amended more than a decade ago
to bring pedestrian control within the
scope of the act, but since that time
all efforts toward this end have failed.
Washington certainly wouldn't be
the first city to try it," Mr.. Keech
said. Il remember that back in 1920
I was halted by policeman's whistle
as 1 was crossing street in Salt
Lake City and told that was violat-
ing pedestrian regulation. A mum.
ber of cities have some form of pedes-
trian control today. among them Los
Angeles"
Mr.. Keech said he believes a pedes-
trian control law, if observed and
enforced, would Cd expedite vehicu-
lar traffic, ca actually speed up
pedestrian traffic and 90 would tend
toward making the streets great
deal safer for all.
What all traffic law enforcement
officers want first is safety. and safety
certainly is not born of confusion"
he continued.
Violators Confuse Others.
when motorist attempts to beat
red light he's creating confusion
for every one else around him. When
a pedestrian violates a common traffic
rule he is confusing others, too, and
increasing the danger of trafic ac-
cidents that might prove serious to
himself as we'll as others.
What right has the pedestrian to
ignore stop light and tie up whole
line of cars?" he asked. Perhaps
there are 20 cars in that line OF
traffic and possibly a mass carrier
with 40 or so passengers. Certainly
the pedestrian should be penalized for
actions off that kind.
Pedestrians as we'll as motorists
should realize that it is an economi-
cally sound principle to keep con-
fusion out Of traffic.
Mr.. Keech believes pedestrian con-
troll should first be tried out in q
particular area. The logical place to
start, he believes, would be in the
ccngested blocks in the business Sec
ton, where the traffic is heaviest and
where more policemen could be con-
centrated to enforce the law.
1t should be tried with the idea Of
attempting to convince the pedestrian
that it is to his advantage to observe
signal lights and common rules Of
traffic. he said. Due to the present
limited number of policemen, he said,
he believes it would be impossible to
put the regulation in effect through
out the city at once, but he is con.
vinced it Is worth q trial In the fight