Evening star., 1949-02-01
Letters to The Star
Radio in Transit Opposed

Radio in Transit Opposed
To the Editor of The Star:
In regard to your editorial, Music as You
Ride" it seems to me that you could use your
page to better advantage than taking sides
in a controversy which the writer knows very
little about.
dare say he does not depend on the street
cars and buses for transportation, so will not
have this new af1ction put upon him. Any
music, good or otherwise which is not under
ones control is noise. We who use the buses
should expect our newspapers to have some
consideration for our feelings.
Don't you realize that you are overselling
radio when you compel people to listen whether
they wish to or not? 1t is like eating too much
candy. You get sick and you do not buy
any more.
have ridden on some of these buses and
street cars, and there Is nothing worse than
being compelled to sit for an hour or even
a few squares with radio banging in your
ears. have a radio and like It, but it is an
imposition to force it upon us.
IVA Eta SULLIVAN.
To the Editor of The Star:
In all the discussion relative to the installa-
ton Of radios in street cars and Buses it seems
to me that the principal factor to be care
fully weighed has largely been overlooked or
sadly underemphasized.
Just at a time when our Corporation Coun-
sells Office is seriously considering the prohibi-
ton of radios in private automobiles because
OF the menace to safe driving, the general
public, and all the authorities, apparently are
blindly accepting the proposition of installing
the same menace in public vehicles which
serve many times the number accommodated
by private Conveyances. A loaded bus or street
car carries about 10 persons, while the average
car carries only five. Failure to hear a danger
warning on the part of bus or street car
operator might involve serious injury to q
number of his passengers, or possibly to all
of them. One can imagine the result of a
collision between a street car or bus and a
fire truck, at high speed.
I recently have been making mental note OF
the great amount of noise made by bus,
or q street car, from the standpoint of pas
senger on the inside. Add to this noise the dis
tractisn of radio program (Which We all know
will not be limited to soft, sweet music')
and you have q combination which completely
would drown out, at times, the noise of sirens
or other signals from without, until the danger
was so close at hand as to be unavoidable
After the damage was done, it would be just
too bad, just another Of those unavoidable"
accidents but those who permitted the installa-
ton of the radios would be criminally respon-
sible. I maintain that the riding public has
right to be protected from such chances.
1t seems to me that the illegality, as we'll as
the total lack of real consideration, involved
in the project of imposing upon the public
q continual barrage of radio noise, is evident
to any one having ordinary common sense
. orS,n fSNvH Mov1u Nf
have to occupy street cars or buses for several
hours day, before and after nerve-racking
experiences in noisy and poorly managed Of
fees Strange as 1t may seem to the type of
person who has to be necessarily amused in
some way. there are great numbers of individ-
uals to whom the noises OF radio programs
which are not subject to their own choice and
discrimination are unbearable and upon whom
they have a decidedly bad physical and mental
effect. 1t is like red flag before bull The
nerve strain is something which less sensitive
persons would not comprehend.
We have been having An unusually large
number of fatal accidents involving street
cars, buses and automobiles recently. The
chief victims have been elderly persons who
cannot adapt themselves so readily to the
made race of our modern traffic and the con.
fusion on our streets. Radios in buses and
street cars will only add to the possibility of
such accidents. The motormen and drivers
already have a full measure of distractions,
and a few Of them seem to be taking their re-
sponsibities to the public rather lightly. Any
thing added to the present dangers and dis
fractions will represent complete ignoring OF
the safety of the public.
1t is incumbent upon those who represent the
legal authority in this city to give this matter
fair and Just consideration from all angles.
VERA e. ADAMS.