Evening star., 1939-02-13
Wants More Control
Of the 'Joydrivers'
Pedestrian Regulation Alone
Held inadequate
For Sofety
To the Editor Of The Star:

To the Editor Of The Star:
II anything were needed to point up
the lesson of driver as opposed to pedes-
trian control, 1t is the hit-and-run acci-
dents occurring recently on two success
sive days. Conceivably, the large pro-
portion of pedestrians among traffic ia
talities might indicate the necessity for
better control of pedestrians; conceiv-
ably also 1t might indicate the need for
better control Of motor vehicles. Since,
however, more pedestrians are wrecked
by motor cars than motor cars by pedes-
trians. it seems clear that the principal
danger is to pedestrians, and therefore
that any added control should be exer.
cised for their benefit rather than for
that Of the motor cars.
Comparatively few drivers seem willing
to give the pedestrian who is legally
crossing an uncontrolled intersection an
even break by approaching such inter-
sections at speed which will enable
them to stop or to swerve before or be-
hind him, as the occasion may dictate.
Instead they prefer to bear down upon
him at Is to 40 miles an hour according
to the section of the city and the habits
of the particular motorist, with the
left hand holding the wheel perfectly
straight, and the right humping the
horn button, while the right foot rides
the accelerator and not the brake. Some
times they vary this by making right or
left turns at light highways
at speeds too high to permit the turns
to be made on the proper part of the
pavement.
Cure motorists of such jaydriving,
and good part of the problem of So
called jaywalking would be solved.
One of the principal reasons why sensi-
BILE pedestrians begin to cross street
while the light is still against them (but
after most traffic has passed on the
street they are crossing) is because it
affords them better chance though by
no means a certainty of safe and
speedy crossing than If they waited for
the lights to change. The pedestrian,
no matter how careful, runs serious
chances of being struck by turning cars,
especially at light-controlled intersec-
tions in outlying districts, where there
is no effective policing. 1t is actually
often far safer in such areas, to cross
carefully in the middle of the block just
behind group of cars than to cross at
theoretically light-controlled intersec-
ton, where cars are not slowing properly
for turns but are actually moving, with
the green light, almost as fast as If they
were not approaching junction and
turn.
The plain fact of the matter is, that
the whole aim and the whole effect Of
so-called pedestrian control is to speed
motor traffic and not to safeguard the
pedestrian. What is more, the effective
enforcement of such measures will nee
essarily be concentrated in downtown
areas. where traffic, though not moving
very fast, is still moving too fast for
safety. AS it is, the genuine jay (who
Is relatively rare), the person who oc-
caSionally gets into a brown study, and
the person who accidentally stumbles or
falls from the curb have some chance
Of surviving. With faster traffic they
Woulu IdVc IlOIle. 1Ne 1Wpdllence OF
the motorist and his willingness to take
a chance with the life Of the pedestrian,
rather than show regard for the latter's
safety, dictate the proposals that have
been made. The motorist wears his re-
sponsibilities only too lightly now, and
would take still less thought for the
pedestrians safety if heavier onus
were placed on the pedestrian If mo-
torists themselves were more courteous
and behaved less like the jays some of
them obviously are there would be little
or no jaywalking problem. Concentra-
tion on the jaydriver would bring big
returns in the way of safety for all,
pedestrians and drivers alike.
February 8. M. r. THURSTON.