Evening star., 1940-03-06
Cites Violations Of
Pedestrian Rights
Menace Seen in Motorists
Failure to Respect
CrosswuIks

wish to commend the editorial on
TRAFFIC Arrests" appearing in The Sum
day Star, February as, together with the
very interesting article in the civic
news section of the same issue, showing
study Of various types Of arrests during
the month Of January by the Metropoli-
tan Police Department.
I am particularly interested in in
structions given by Maj. Brown to the
men of his command to give special
attention to motorists at intersections
to see that pedestrians are given right
of way at trafic lights" If this is done
1t will meet with approval of thousands
of pedestrians who have suffered for
lack of this protection at street inter-
sections, particularly in the downtown
section of the city. All one has to do
is to stand on street corner and notice
one violation after another by motorists
who do not make the slightest effort to
give pedestrians the right Of way, to
which they are entitled, at crosswalks.
Here is a sample of what occurs daily:
A lady started across the street down.
town the other day on the green light.
When about midway in the roadway
motorist swung around the corner She
stopped in order to save herself from
being run down or killed Then what
happened? Did the trafic officer on
duty make any attempt to stop the
motorist? He did not. He approached
the pedestrian and proceeded to bawl
her out for walking against the light.
A man who passed the lady at the time
said, Give him hell, lady," and she did
just that. Had the ofiicer been on his
job he would have made at least some
effort to halt the motorist and acquaint
him as to the rights of pedestrians on
crosswalks.
In analyzing the trafic violation chart
we find that 102 arrests were made for
violation of pedestrian control regu-
lations," as compared with eight for
failing to give right Of way to pedes-
trians." A reversal of these figures would
certainly mean an improvement and win
more respect from those who use cross
walks and are doing their part to COM
ply with the law.
At another downtown street inter-
section two women started to cross
street on a green light. About 4 feet
from the curb they were cut of by
motorist making a right-hand turn.
They advanced about 2 feet more and
were halted again by truck, making the
same turn. A taxi halted them on their
third attempt to proceed and after an
other short advance the fourth auto
caused them to halt, this time in the
middle of their journey. This found
them In the center of the streetcar
tracks, the light had turned red and
streetcar was bearing down upon them,
with traffic speeding down the street
alongside of the streetcar. The motor
man displayed intelligence by throwing
on his brakes and waved to the two
bewildered women to proceed across his
track\to the safety zone. I know that
the right turn has been and still is one
of the real problems Of police and traffic
authorities, but I say let the traffic
motorists who insist on forcing pedes-
trians to run for their lives and also
those who block crosswalks in busy
centers.
A few evenings ago six passengers on
streetcar started to alight from the
rear OF crowded car. The conductor
attempted to open the door, but found
that motorist had completely blocked
the rear of the streetcar to such an ex-
tent that the motorist couldn't move
forward, because he was jammed be-
tween the car and another machine
parked at the curb. The passengers were
forced to leave by the front entrance.
In checking over the list of violators
for the month of January, what do we
hnd-just one arrest for passing street.
car while unloading" On this same
streetcar line motorists can be- found
daily passing cars on the left! For
this violation three arrests were noted
for the month.
I happened to be standing in the
center Of downtown safety zone one
night and to my amazement / saw the
driver Of q sedan heading right in my
direction. I halted him and inquired
what was the big idea. I told him
where he got of and what it would
have cost him If an oficer had caught
up with him. BY the time he slapped on
his brakes all four Of the wheels of his
machine were inside the yellow traf1c
lines. He apologized and said that he
was in hurry, but would profit by his
mistake.
AS for arrests for overtime parking,
suggest that less time be devoted to this
character of police work and that the
men devote their time to numerous other
matters of far more importance to the
city in general. Let them be on the
alert and catch some of the violators who
are running wild, with no regard to
safety Of others. It is not the auto
mobiles parked at the curb that are
taking human lives and causing untold
injuries and suffering to people, but
those operated by q minority Of reck-
less drivers who should be halted in
their wild careers.
I am heartily in favor Of the pro-
gram outlined by Maj. Ernest w. Brown,
superintendent OF police, and as q
strong supporter of our local police de-
nartrnent nredict that hA will have the