Evening star., 1938-07-31
By CORA WELLS THORPE.

you ride along the KrakowSkie Przed-
niescie headed for the palace or select |
the Nalewski for an excursion into
the Polish Ghetto, whether you go by
automobile or by drosche, your re-
action will be the same The manipu-
lation of your means of transporta-
ton will be source of admiration, |
not entirely free from concern.
Amidst melee of traffic, made up
of trans, buses. long carts heavily
laden with supplies from the country,
bicycles, carriages drawn by poorly
shod horses, and pedestrians, the
10000 automobiles registered in War;
saw make their way at a speed con-
slderably faster than the standard %
miles per hour. Traffic signals, which
at present are few and far between,
are reduced to an irreducible simplic-
1ty A red light indicates stop. No
light at all indicates 60 And yet with
this complexity of traffic and paucity
of control, the entire accident toll for
all of Warsaw's motors, trans. buses.
oioS'hNS' anu peutSlTldTS last wear
totalled but 1859.
we believe" explained the Polish
road commissioner. that our low ac-
cident record is partly due to the
drlVers examinations, which, Incl
dentally, are given by the Polish Au-
tomoolle Club, an affiliate of the
American Automobile Association, The
private drivers, Of whom there are not
so many, gets off with a very simnle
examination. which includes little
more than questions as to road prac-
ticeS and signs, but the commercial
orlVer, who accounts for the greater
part OF the traffic, faces an ordeal of
several hours, including a road test
Iastlng three-quarters of an hour
Ihe candidate must first pass A mental
test and reaction test his deyterity
accuracy and celerity being registered
on various mechanical reaction testing
macnlnes with an average of so par
cent. His ability to drive at 20 4o
ana bo miles an hour satisfactorily
must then be demonstrated.
Drivers and Safety.
Here, at least, recognized was the
conIrmatlon OF a suspected speed,
could comfort myself, in any case, on
my return drive with the reflection
that my driver had presumably passed
MS speed test satisfactorily. I honed
fervently that I bore no incriminatinp
evidence Of being a member of the
Women's Safety Committee in Wash.
inston, so that mistaking me for a vis
lung examiner he might decide to ex-
hlolt MS proWess at the wheel at so.
My reflections at this point were in
terrupted by the commissioner. invit-
ing me to visit the files Acceptinp
the invitation with pleasure, I was led
into alarge room, filled with rows Of
formidable looking cases, and asked to
name Polish friend Fortunately
coulc produce one, and in two and a.
nan minutes time had the unexpected
privilege OF scanning. unbeknown to
the gentleman. the traffic record of
one OF the head officials of the Polish
foreign Office. Fortunately it was
mighty credible and included an inter-
national driving license. which is in
dlspensable if one intends to do his
own driving on the continent.
/ was also shown the examination
record and photograph of less for
tunate Pole, who had failed to pass
put whose record was kept for refer
ence, in case he should be apprehend-
ed for driving without license. I
concluded that Poland's approach to
the traffic problem was both modern
and systemat tic.
Pedestrian Problem.
Tho continuation, -,.. =.
on our return to the office of Com
missioner Rychter, who it might be
observed In passing, bears the title
OF Rzeczoznawca Przysiegly, developed
the fact that while the parking prob
lem is as yet non-existent for Poland
the pedestrian problem is very much
to the fore. As in Germany, an in
traction Of the rules brings down upon
the head of the offending culprit q
fine of zloty, collected on the SPOT
by the traffic officer. He is then pre-
sented with red pamphlet, contain
Ing 20 substantial rules for his future
conduct on the street At least three
OF them admonish him to keep to the
right. fourth admonishes him to
walk in the same tempo with other
people. fifth instructs him not to
bury his head in his recently pur-
chased newspaper on the street-a
current Polish custom, the commits
sioner informed me-and a sixth
affirms that if he carries a cane he
Is not expected to whirl 1t in the face
Of his fellow pedestrians!
Summarizing his conversation, the
commissioner concluded: I'VE at
tended the Geneva International Con.
ference for the Regulation of Driving
IN 1895 and we adopted the standard
English signal with separate pedes-
trian lights. The latter are smaller
than those controlling vehicular trafic
and their lenses are so grooved as to
make them more concentrated"
Your main objective seems to be
the protection Of the pedestrian, does
1t not?" observed.
we believe that, in the majority
OF cases, he is the victim" replied
Commissioner Rychter
BY the way" said, as rose to
thank very busy and gracious man
Tor very Illuminating half hour,
that is a very familiar looking book
on your shelf"
I presume 1t is" he replied with
. smile. "As a matter of fact, we
could not get along without Mr.. Will
liam Phelps Enos works"
I turned the little yellow volume
over almost reverently. 1 had once
had the pleasure of introducing Mr.
Emo at a meeting of the Women's
Safety Committee in Washington as
"our traffic ambassador at large"
but even then had not expected to
meet him on the western frontier of
Asia!
Forest Study Scheduled