Evening star., 1939-02-26
Pedestrian Law
Passes Severe
Saturday Test
Thousands Cross
Streets in FoirIy
Good Order

The new pedestrian protection reg
ulations met their stiffest test yes
terday - the Saturday afternoon
rush-and emerged slightly bent but
not broken,
Chaperoned by a squad of extra
police and 200 Boy Scouts, thou
sands of pedestrians marched across
streets in the business district in
time to traffic lights and in fairly
good order. When the day was done
police expressed satisfaction.
The crowds of Saturday AFTER
noon shoppers, plus the heavy We
hlcular traffic. put the severest
strain of the week on traffic off,
GERS. Yesterday was the first Sat-
urday since the police had started
their period of education on the
new laws.
Some snarls resulted on busy cor
ners because of automobiles making
right and left turns and because of
pedestrians failure to obey the
Walk" lights. But generally vehic-
ular and pedestrian traffic moved
smoothly.
Scouts Activities Described.
The Stars sound truck was set
up at Fourteenth and F. streets NV.
at the height of the rush. At 1870
pm. Bill Coyle, radio director of
The Star, went on the air over
station WMAL for IS minutes, de-
scribing conditions downtown.
Feature of the broadcast was a
description of activities undertaken
by the Scouts. Some 200 of the
boys took their places at busy inter-
sections at 10 am. and were re-
Ieved at 2 pm. by others.
They received orders at police
headquarters from Maj. Ernest w.
Brown, Scout Executive Linn C.
Drake, Washington I. Cleveland,
manager of the District Automobile
Club, and William Armstrong, Scout
commissioner for health and safety.
The boys, during the day, mo-
toned pedestrians back to the curb
when they were violating the law
and explained the new regulations
to them. The walkers generally
co-operated.
During the broadcast, Mr.. Arm
strong, along with Richard H. Rule,
another Scout executive, explained
the Scouts work. They stated
that they were we'll pleased with
the results and announced the boys
would be back at their posts next
Saturday.
Scouts Work Praised.
Graham Smallwood, assistant
Scoutmaster of Troop II, also par
ticipated in the program, telling of
his observations In the congested
area. Tim Hurst of Troop 13 and
Philip Harris of Troop As, Scouts
who were on duty yesterday, told of
their experiences.
Before the broadcast the Ameri-
can Amplifier e. Television Corp.
sound truck, used by The Star and
the National Broadcasting Co. for
series OF street broadcasts during
the last week, was stationed at
Fourteenth and F. streets. An
nouncer Coyle gave instructions to
pedestrians on the peculiar rules
governing that corner.
Maj. Brown, after observing the
work of the Scouts, said:
Indications seem to point to the
TACT that the public has taken very
kindly to the reminders of Boy
Scouts. Scouts acted only in
reminding capacity to groups of
people that they should move with
the lights and only at intersections
according to the regulations. We
are highly pleased"
Inspector B. A. Lamb of the Traf-
nc Bureau and 1t. Frank Varney
joined in praising the Scouts work.
Hard to Hold Back.
At the height of the rush, police
had some difficulty keeping pedes-
trians out of the way of cars making
turns. Crowds of walkers congre-
gated on the curb, waiting for the
green light, and when that appeared
nothing could hold them back.
Along F. street, at Twelfth and
Thirteenth streets. pedestrian traf-
f1c Is not supposed to start up with
the green light-but is required to
wait few seconds until the walk"
signal apears. During this wait, cars
are allowed to make right turns.
But as soon as the green appeared,
pedestrians surged forward. Police
were forced to make path through
for cars wishing to turn.
But aside from the momentary
confusion resulting from this situ-
ation-al1d similar problems caused
by cars making turns-the new
regulations functioned perfectly.
Police will continue their educa-
tional efforts until March 10, at
which time they will undertake
strict enforcement of the regula-
tions. Pedestrians who cross against
the signal or cross in the middle of
block in such way as to create a
hazard will be liable tn arrest