Evening star., 1939-05-07
Sehoo|boy Patro|men
Have Most Trouble
With Adults
Elders frequently Ser
Very Poor Example,
r. w. Eoves Says rts

The worst enemy of the schoolboy
patrolman is the adult.
This view of the problems con-
fronting the traffic safety program
in Washington schools was expressed
Yesterday by Robert w. Eaves,
chairman of the Street Safety Com
mittee of the schools, In connection
with the eighth annual youth
pageant Of safety to be held here
Friday and Saturday.
"Our greatest difficulty in enforc-
ing patrol duty is contending with
the better Judgment of adults who
proceed to do as they please at in
tersections patrolled by schoolboys."
Mr.. Eaves said yesterday.
"1t's a good thing the children
don't follow their example or there
would be trouble" he continued.
This criticism applies even to par
ents bringing their children to
school, Mr.. Eaves explained. Be-
cause adults think they know more
than the youngsters in charge of
intersections, they proceed against
traffic signals And yet, statistics
show that while the traffic toll
among school children of from to
Is has remained constant since 1923,
when the patrol was formed in
Washington, the toll among adults
has scared.
Adults Not Trained.
II think it's because most adults
never received training in traffic
safety when they were young" said
Mr.. Eaves. "They are not aware of
the traffic problems of today and be-
cause of their superior intellect
choose to disregard the advice Of
youngsters who know great deal
more about what they're doing than
most adults
Mr.. Eaves went on to say, however,
that parents are overwhelmingly in
favor of the schoolboy patrol pro-
gram and called the schools again
and again to ask that more inter-
sections be patrolled.
Motorists, on the whole, tend to
be cooperative, Mr.. Eaves said, al
though some register open defiance
to the patrolmen. Complaints from
motorists, however, are often legiti-
mate, as some of the boys think
their Sam Brown belts give them
license to control traffic, he said.
Mr.. Eaves emphasized that the
"patrolmen are supposed only to
conduct other children across the
street at a safe time, not to con-
troll traffic"
But. he went on, motorists should
not expect the boys to be trained
traffic officers.
Program a Success.
There is no doubling the fact
that the schoolboy patrol program
throughout the country, sponsored
by the American Automobile Asso-
citation, is a success, Mr.. Eaves said.
There are more than 250,000 patrol
men in the United States and ap-
proximately 5000 in Washington.
The success of the program is
shown in the fact that there were
13 traffic fatalities among children
of school age in Washington in 1928,
the year the patrol was organized,
and there were still 13 last year, Mr..
Eaves pointed out. In other words,
the traffic toll among school children
has remained constant while among
all other age groups it has increased,
he said.
Any Interpretation of these fig
ures must take into consideration
the fact that they both represent
the total of fatalities for children
of school age and not just those
taking place at so-called school in
tersections. Many of them took
place in off hours or during vaca-
tions, he said. Only two accidents
have occurred at patroled intersec-
tions during the current school year
and neither was fatal
So successful has been the pro-
gram, Mr.. Eaves asserted, that it is
now considered by school officials
as part of the school educational