Evening Star Newspaper, March 3, 1929, Page 37

In the Motor World BY G. ADAMS HOWARD. HE National Capital con- tinues to maintain its lead over other large cities uf I the United States in regard to low traffic fatality figures. Fo. the 52 weeks ending December 29, according to the Census Bureau. Washington lead with 14.8 pev 100,000. Baltimore with 149 per 100,000. Chicago trailed the field of cities of 350,000 population or more reported with 26.9 per 100,000. Later figures, just released the Census Bureau, for a period of 52 weeks ending January 25. give Washington first place again with a percentage of 14. Balti- more is still second in line, al- though its percentage is now 15.4 Chicago again trails the field with | 26.8, a slight improvement. February Fatalities Low. For February, at the present writing, only two traflic fatauties | have been reported. This is the lowest number for the month of | February since the establishment of the Traffic Bureau. In Feb- ruary, 1923, there were three fatalities, seven in 1924, five 1a 1925, nine in 1926, eight in 1927, | and four in 1928. | Accidents not involving fatali- | ties are also on the decline. Fig- ures disclose that there were fewer in January than that month | the year before, and compilation | of figures so far for February also show a decrease. | These figures are most gn couraging to William H. Harland, director of traffic. He is of the| belief that motorists and pedes- | trians alike are exerting more | care, and that with the aid of the | lights and regulations Washingtoa | will be the holder of more en- viable records. | Light signals will be placed ini operation on Massachusetts ave- | nue, between Dupont circle and | Twenty-second street, and at the | intersections of P and Q streets, | this week, according to Mr. Har- ! land. Traffic signals on Sixth | street, between Louisiana and | Rhode Island avenues, also will | be in use by this time. | Officials of the Traffic Bureau | at present are busy in formulating | plans for handling the inaugural’ crowds. A review of the special | traffic regvlations for this occa- | sion is not amiss. The official | orders are as follows: | Special Traffic Regulations. ‘ Sec. 27. The territory comprised‘ within the following boundary lines is hereby declared a tem- | porary congested zone from 12 o'clock midnight, March 3, to 12 o'clock midnight, March 4, 1929: Beginning at the southwest corner of Sixth street and Mis- souri avenue northwest, thence north along the east curb line of Sixth street to its intersection with Louisiana avenue; east along the south curb of Louisiana avenue to its intersec- tion with the east curb line of Fifth street northwest; thence north along the east curb of Fifth street to the northeast corner of G street northwest; thence west | along the north curb of G street to its intersection with the north- | east corner of Fifteenth and G streets northwest; thence nortn along the east curb of Fifteenth street northwest, to the northeast corner of Fifteenth and H streets northwest; thence west along the north curb of H street to the northwest corner of Seventeenth and H streets northwest; thence south along the west curb of Seventeenth street to its intersec- tion with New York avenue north- west; thence north along the east curb of Seventeenth street to the southeast corner of Seventeenth and Pennsylvania avenue north- west; thence east along the south curb of Pennsylvania avenue to its intersection with Fifteenth street northwest; thence south along the west curb of Fifteenth street to the southwest corner of Fifteenth and B streets north- west; thence east along the south curb of B street to the southeast corner of Sixth street and Mis souri avenue northwest. Sec. 28. Within the territory designated as a temporary con- gested section in the preceding paragraph, no vehicle shall: b2 parked or left standing except when actually taking on or dis- charging passengers, or in the case of commercial vehicles, when actually loading or unloading merchandise; and such vehicles while so engaged shall stop or stand in a position parallel with thé curb; provided, however, that this shall not apply to the road- ways immediately contiguous to the Center Market. nor shall it apply to taxicabs, livery vehicles or hotel service, nor to licensed vehicles for the conveyance of passengers for hire, which vehicles may occupy the stands now estab- lished or such special stands as may hereafter be established within this zone, except where the occupation of such stands will in- terfere with the formation or nas- sage of any scheduled parade or ceremonv. Sec. 29. Within the congested section as defined in the spe regulations no driver shall tn his vehicle about between building lines of streets Parkinz Restrictions. Sec. 30. Between the hours of 12 midnight, March 3, and 12 mid- night, March 4, parking of ve- hicles will be prohibited on the following streets: Both sides of M street north- west, from its intersection with Pennsylvania avenue west . Thirty-sixth street northwest. Pennsylvania avenue southeast from the west end of the Pennsyl- vania Avenue Bridge extending west to Second street southeast. B street from Second street southeast to First street south- west. First street from B street south- east to B street northeast. East Capitol street from First street east to Second street. Maryland avenue from First street east to Second street B street from its intersection with Marvland avenue northey west to First street northwest First street from B street south- west to Indiana avenue northwest Fourteenth street from its in- tersection with Water street north to Thomas Circle. Nineteenth street from New York avenue north to K street. Pennsylvania avenue from Nine - teenth street west to Washington | Circle. | E street northwest from Four- | teenth street to Fifteenth street. | Parking of all vehicles will also be prohivited during the same period of time on any highwa | uesignated by the grand marshal | troops or other bodies participat- ing 1n the inaugural parade, pro- viaed, however, that such high- ys shall be designated by offi- cial signs indicating hibition of such parking. Sec. 31. Any person violating any of the foregoing regulations shall be punished by a fine not tc \ | | was second |as necessary for the formation of | the pro-| exceed $100 and in default of pay- | ment thereof shall be imprisoned | in the workhouse in said District for a period not longer than 60 da; These regulations are necessary | to preserve orderliness in the city and should be carefully obeyed. Restriction of parking will be of annoyance to many, but it is foi the greater good of all. New York Battie Due. New York is due for a good | traffic battle in the near future. | Its jammed streets are causing | considerable discussion at present. i the surface | Before New Year street cars were displaying pla- cards bearing the following in- scription: “What New York De- mands for the New Year Is Traffic GENTLEMEN 1S THE PRIVATE TOLL BRIDGES CALLED YOU MISSED ™ SIGNAL- TS L RIGHT THIS ALTLME‘_A 3 AND TO YOUR LEFT, LADIES AND 5 | Several growing abuses confront | American motordom, which, if not neutralized b; ation or regulation, will t part of the enjoy- ment J. P A otorisi w has when he spins over the highwav b-hind the wheel of his Simpl i the view of Thomas D of the chict ¢ persons v re of the bureau ent or g force of s its chief But the Bureau of Public Roads its name implie drive motor zigantic part in the good of the personality the magnetic man INAUGURATION DAY VISITORS-WHAT CAN 1 You DO I & CASE L,:/ \ L\\<E;2 THIS )'w, = s the Federal agency whose sole work is to further good roads. Through this bureau is admin- istered the Federal road aid program and to it comes a mass of data Whl(‘h‘ make it one of the few clearing houses | for such information whose chiefs have no ax to grind or game to play. The | ole aim of the Bureau of Public Roads | is better roads and more roads. Mr. MacDonald is a quiet individual, who works with astonishing precision and without any fuss and publicity. But he gets things done, and seldom talks about the job before it is nearing completion. He has some definite ideas about hat vague thing called “freedom of the | road,” a term that is not new to Mac- Donald. He believes it is How bo | GEY 1O ARLI NGTO“?' : MENACE TO U. S. BY ROAD CHIEF Y ‘ —_— fr) T 'Highway Bureau Director. Thomas Mac- Donald. Cites “Growing Abuses™ Con- fronting American Motorists. highways have become valuable prop- erty because of the construction of high- ways. The bridges are only a part of such highways and should be treated legally as such. A full investigation of the toll bridge situation is needed as a basis for remedial legislation to safe- guard the public in use of the roads and to protect the public which invests n securities. It is a fisld from which the “shoestring” promoter should be ex- cluded and he will be if a thorough investigation is made." There is another type of potential ®old mine for the individual who would make a fortune from those who travel the highways of the Nation, the private= ly owned toll road. Mr. MacDonald claims there i no substitute for the free public highway, and that as existing roadways are pers fected by widening, grade separations, bypasses around congestion, better alignment and better surfaces they will give every possible degree of desirable service. ‘The motor road on a closed right of way,” Mr. MacDonald says,” takes on the characteristics of a ilroad. A highway cannot be so transformed and continue to serve in a universal way. The only areas in which toll roads in competition with high standard free roads could possibly pay. is in those sections of dense population where dis~ tances between large centers are rela Relief.” They are now bearinz | placards asking for the abolition | of all parking in the congested | areas. At the same time there is great sentiment for the abolitior of all the surface street car: themselves. The war soon is to be on. Father Knickerbocker has his troubles well as other cities. Urges Express Highways. Express highways are the an- swer to the difficulties of modern 1 i | | | as true as | tively small. Roughly, these areas are indicated by a strip varying in width from Washington through New York City to Boston, and by another strip along the Great Lakes from Milwaukee through Chicago, Cleveland and Detroit to Buffalo. These are not set up as areas in which toll roads would pay. Rather, they indicate the limit of po- tential locations where, in general, rela- tively short sections of toll roads might be possible in competition with high!y developed free roads.” Holland Tunnel Cited. Mr. MacDonald alludes to the Hol- ifs meaning. but he also holds trat the truth slowly is becoming more nearly like fiction because of certain growing evils which should be cor- | ctod before they become real menaces. | he more important of these attacks recdom of the road he lists as Franchises to build toll bridges granted fo private interests. Propa- ganda promoting toll road franchises for private interests. Ill-advised de- s for Federal highway transport laws and regulations. Lack of desir- able uniformity in State regulatory city traffic, says Edward S. Jordan in the current bulletin of the street traffic committee of the Na- tional Automobile Chamber oi Commerce, issued today. In addi- tion to Mr. Jordan, the committce consists of John J. Raskob, chair- man; E. L. Cord and Robert P. Page, jr. Motor vehicle fatalities continue to be higher than the same month a year ago, even though lower than December, according to the report. This increase Mr. Jordan declared to be unnecessary, due to political ineptitude and lethargy in city and suburban govern- ments. “Express highways, such as that PERIL TO CHILOREN SEEN ONHIHWAYS | Maximum Care on Part of Motorists to Save Lives | Is Enjoined. Cars Under $800 Class. Between 60 and 65 per cent of all new example of the Nauo of tourist | PASSSREEF CArs soid this year wil be in - - ! business to & community. A man may | the under-$800 cla cording to the Value of Tourist Business to City | be content to live in a rundown, dreamy | statistics diviston of the American Mo- Is Shown by Town in | Eeor S o eyt hien Outslders | torists® Assoctation. This estimate is Russia ! | based on an analysis of sales figures for | wrath surges in him. Rather than sub- | | mit to such ridicule, he will spend his | the last three years, which shows that Yasnya Polyana, birthplace of Leo money an s time to make the place | i, 1926 the percentage of cars sold in Tolstoy, the novelist, has become one of | Boutfal and up-to-date, Frlde on the | the under-3500 class was 636, in 1927, Russia’s most modern villages as a result ‘ M i 59.0, and in 1928, 61.2. During the three years a total of 9,440.000 cars of of world-wide interest in the writer,| special motor vehicle taxes pay but|all makes were sold in the United says the American Motorist, official |35 per cent of the entire rural highway | States, of which 5.790.000, or 61.3 per publication of the American Automobile | bill and are equal to nearly all the cost | cent, were listed in the class of cars Association. | of main state roads. | listing under $800. | laws. Traffic congestion. Lack of weil planned programs for road improve- ment adjusted to available finances Abuse and desecration of our road- | land vehicular tunnel between New York and New Jersey and the 20-mile approach road which New Jersey is bullding as “two examples of what sides. certainly _?;?y b‘v v.cm‘uxe‘:l sug‘crmgéx- y : ways.” “There is no icated addi- Toll Interests Growing Bolder. tional service,” he adds, “that might be “Private toll bridge interests are be- extended by placing them on a privai> coming bolder and obstructing the Na- | right of way, and both, regardless ot tion’s business,” Mr. MacDonald says, | eXisting transportation agencies, weie “They are attempting to defeat legisia- | necessary public facilities. Where tion unfavorable to themselves and are | Such necessity exists. such roads are obstructing the efforts of highway de.’tsscnmlly public undertakings and partments to carry on State projects. | Sh | *Commenting on the part the tourists | TOLSTOY’S BIRTHPLACE [ ‘Comme s have played in making this Russian vil- | ATTRACTS MOTORISTS | loge, the publication says: “That is a should be so undertaken whether the Seventy-five Federal authorizations to| ¢ost is paid in tolls or not.” build toll bridges have been grantd to| TWo aspects of the demands for | private interests by the present Con- | Federal laws and regulations govern- gress. Thehterms of these ’"‘m"“"i,',‘:m‘:*: p:;mflhe hé'"}:’:cmm mtmlg-le tions are wholly inadequate rotect | ons dese: eration, the public’s intarest. i according to_the Public Roads Bureau “Basically all bridges on the main (Continued on Seventh Page.) thence | intersecting | outlined from Cincinnati to To- |tion of our ' traffic difficulties, | says Mr. Jordan. | “The peak of congestion is past | because the engineers have en- | tered into the picture. “Education of the individual | { will continue to be necessary, but he“must be protected against him- self. “The express highway route permits rapid travel without the hazard of cross-wise traffic. Fur- thermore, the separation of ve- hicular and pedestrian routes eliminates accidents to persons on foot, which constitute more than half the total at the present time. “The express highway referred to in Ohio will eliminate 75 rail- road crossings between Cincinnati and Dayton alone. “Similar freedom from grade crossings is already found in Wacker drive,. Chicago; the West Side superhighway, authorized for construction in New York; the traffic subway at Stockton, Calif., and the Gay Street Bridge in Phoenixville, Pa. ‘Would End Politics. “The chief barrier to projects| |such as these during the past five years has been local short-sighted politics. It is a credit to the Nation that the rural highway |program has been carried on | without this detriment. Nearly | every State has its State highway ! commission which carries on the | State road program on a State- | wide basis with relatively little in- | | terruption from local jealousies. In our cities, however, not only every suburb, but at times every district and ward, puts its finger into the highway program. This | might be understandable if there were any constructive results, but the only outcome of that pro- | cedure has been a standstill, due |to every one pulling in different | directions. | “These obstacles, however, are| ‘rapidly breaking down due to the {loud demand on the part of the | public for action. | “The Cincinnati to Toledo high- way is made possible through the agreement of all cities and towns (along the route in co-operation |with the State highway depart- | ment. - | “Similarly in all municipalities |a consistent program needs to be worked out with the State high- {way department, so that modern roads may be built in line with | modern needs and not be blocked | by local obstructionists.” ENGINES REVIVED BY CHANGE OF OIL | By the Associated Press. CHICAGO. March 2—Feeding an old auto engine a different cil is one of the latest methods of increasing the life |of cars. It is deseribed in bulletin of the American Research Foundation, which says that spread of scientific knowledge of lubrication is saving American_motorists millions yearly in repair bills and depreciation. “Even in early days of the automo- bile,” says the bulletin, “scientists knew |that ofls possessed varying degrees of |lubricating value. To find the right grades for various needs, they conducted a long series of researches. | “First they discovered that cars of different makes might require different grades of lubricant for maximum service “Th» second important discovery was that. like the human body, the motor needed different ofl in infancy, in ma- turity and in old age. “In the old days the motorist merely asked for ofl. Lubrirating ofls were all alike to him. As his knowledge in- creased, he acked, ‘What is the bast o vou_can give me for my make of car? With_further increase in his scientific nowledge h~ is asking. ‘What is the est ol for my make of car, driven as as this car has been driven?’ | "“Science therefore claims to have | given moterists better performance, less {rapid deterioration of motors and re- sultant longer life. a decrease in oper- ating cost through a saving in repair Jbills which more than offsets (he slight increase in cost of the oil” P | dren BY HARVEY L. COBB, (General Counsel American Motorist's Asso- clation.) ‘The presence of small children in the highway raises a duty on the part of the motorist to use the maximum amount of care in the operation of his automobile. There is a tendency among courts to throw the greatest possible protection around children in the streets, par- ticularly school children. The reason for this is obvious. With the exuberance of youth, children dart here and there heedlessly and without giving the slight- est notice of their intentions. But at the same time, courts recog- nize that motor traffic must move along the highways and take notice of the fact that an automobile cannot be stop- ped instantfy. The safest rule for the motorist to follow in approaching a place where children are crossing or playing in the street, is to keep his car under such control that it can be stopped on the shortest possible notice. Courts have given force to this rule in holding, as they have In many cases, that no responsibility attaches to the driver, if with the car under proper control, a child deliberately steps in front of it and is injured. An Example Is Cited. An interesting case, in which the duty of a motorist in respect to children in the highway was discussed, recently | came before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. A child was playing with other chil- in front of a school building, standing on the sidewalk, with one end of a rope with which she had been jumping wrapped around her wrist. The other end was lying in the street where another child had left it at the approach of a truck. The end of the rope in the street was caught in the | wheel of the truck and the child was dragged from the sidewalk into the street under the rear wheel of the truck. Death resulted from the in- Jjuries. ‘The court laid down the rule that “to sustain an action of negligence there must not only be a duty violated | but an accident must be the normal | result of the violation—that is, the in- | jury must be reasonably anticipated.” Driver's Duty Explained. The driver's duty was to operate the truck with due regard for the safety of | persons on the highway or likely to come thereon, sald the report. “The | speed of the car was merely the condi- tion or the occasion which made the' injury possible through the interven- tion of the rope, a distinct and unre- lated circumstance in the sequence of the movement of the truck,” the court ruled. ‘While pointing out that motorists owe a high duty in regard to children in the highway, the case is authority for the proposition that it must not only be shown that a motorist was driving negligently but also that his negligence was the proximate cause of the injuries for which damages are sought. —. DAMAGE GUARANTEE | | BY LAW BEING URGED| ‘ = | Driver Would Be Liable up to| | $8,000 in Plan Sponsored by | Maryland Club. Special Dispatch to The BALTIMORE. March 2 —Every auto- | mobile driver would be Tesponsible for | accident damages up to $6,000 in a plan announced this week by the Automo- bile Ciub of Maryland, which will be brought before the Legislature Under the plan, the automobile com- | missioner would be required to send to | every automobile operator and chauffeur {in the State a printed statement in which the operator or chauffeur agrees | to hold himszlf liable for personal prop- lerty up to $1,000 and personal injury | damage to the extent of $5,000 result- {ing from the operation of any motor ! vehicle by him. { The operator or chauffeur would be | required to sign the statement and re- | turn it to the commissioner. | In case of an accideni, ‘\\-nuld be given 30 settle. 1f payment is not made within that time, the driver's licenss would be revoked until final payment was made. | "“This measure is not a compulsory | insurance measure,” Harry N. Aber- ‘rmmbxe. chairman of the club’s legis- lative committee. said, “but a measure calculated to make the highways safe.” the driver s in which to In 1928, Graham-Paige enjoyed a first year sales volume that set an all-time record for the automobile industry. In the first 60 days of 1929 shipments of the new sixes and eights were 214% greater than for the same period last year. Five chassis—sixes and eights—prices ranging from $885 to $2495. Car illustrated is Model 615 four door Sedan —six cylinder, 76 horsepower, 115" wheelbase, $1195 (special equipment extra). All prices at factory. Graham- E. B. Frazier Motor Co. 518 10th St. N.E. Paige Company of Washington, D. Factory Branch—1526 14th Street N.W. Logan Motor Co. 1812 E St. N.W. National Auto Sales Co. 33 N. Y. Ave. N.E. GRARAM-PAIS