Evening Star Newspaper, March 17, 1929, Page 63

In the Mo BY G. ADAMS HOWARD. ! ERS of flowers, peanuts and popcorn. who daily en- L danger the steady stream of traffic by displaying their wares at the inner rim of Dupont Circle will be compelled to move on to other parts, according to pres- ent plans of Willam H. Harland, | director of traffic. With the installation of the new traffic ight signals, scheduled for & week from today, Mr. Harland is firm in his contention that the venders must leave their hereto- fore unmolested stands. A letter requesting their removal will be written this week by the director to the major and superintendent of police. Despite many complaints re- ceived by the police department regarding these venders, the de- partment has been loath to take any action. The courts have de- termined that these venders are not hucksters and cannot be con- victed under the regulations re- garding hucksters. After diligent search through the traffic and motor vehicle reg- ulations, Mr. Harland has at hand paragraph m, section 14, of arti- cle 12. This paragraph states “A vehicle shall not stop in such a manner as to obstruct traffic or a cross walk.” Furthermore, under paragraph ac, section 1, article 1, vehicle is defined as follows: “Shall apply to any appliance moved over a highway on wheels | or traction tread, including street | cars, draft animals and beasts of | burden.” As the pushcarts of the vendeérs are wheeled, Mr. Harland believes that enforcement of the above regulation will be all that is need- ed in the case. “It will be neces- sary with the installation of these new lights at Dupont Circle,” Mr. Harland said, “to break up the practice of these venders. While they may not actually obstruct traffic in every case themselves, they cause traffic to be obstructed. Congestion of the circle is not the only problem. Property and per- sonal injury are liable to result at any time.” Favorable Comment Continues. Favorable comment over the new insurance bill as promulgated by the American Automobile As- soclation continues. Last week the traffic committee of the Board of Trade gave its warm indorse- ment. Both Mr. Harland and his assistant, M. O. Eldridge, are said | to be in support of the measure. The Washington Automotive “Trade Association, which went on record. last year against the com- pulsory law as adopted by Mas- sachusetts, is said to be favorably inclined to the A. A. A. proposal, although no definite action has been taken as yet. It is hard to conceive of any intelligent motorist being against the enactment of legislation de- signed to bar the reckless driver who is financially irresponsible from the highways. The proposed measure is hard on the non-law- abiding citizen. Is there any rea- son that he should not be penal- ized for the protection of the good citizen? By a close vote the traffic com- mittee voted in favor of making left-hand turns from the center of the intersection. Officials of the traffic department are stil reluctant to yield, but it is under- stood that they are willing to compromise. Their compromise is based on allowing the motorist to make the left-hand turn from the center of the street, but only| when the green lights are dis- played. Compromises are often wise. It would be interesting to know just how many nails were picked | up by tires during the pre and| post inaugural period. Carpenters working on the grandstands were not as careful as they could be, and many an unoffending tire was penalized by this lack of care. Speaking of the inauguration, the taxis of the city did themselves proud. During the three-day pe- | riod more than 40,000 runs were THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. tor World these runs only four minor com- plains were made. While the rain helped the taxi companies, it was | otherwise with the sightseeing | outfits. | Hoping to drive a machine over March 4, one would-be driver ap- peared at the traffic bureau for a license. He was asked how long he had been in town. He an- | swered that he had just come in, | | but that he was well acquainted | with the city. “What street is this | | office on?” he was asked. He was | unable to tell, and therefore failed | |to get a license. Moral: Don't| | ask for a permit unless you know | where Pennsylvania avenue is. Mourns Bible’s Death. The motor world is proud of | | Maj. Segrave, the dauntless Brit- |isher, and at the same time { mourns the loss of Lee Bible. It !is to be hoped that Zurther pro- f tection of the lives of these racers | | be considered before such racing ;xs held again. Both the driver and {the machine should be better | | tested. Continued high production and | sales are maintained throughout | the automotive world. The word | “'saturation" seems only to boE {found in the dictionary. Announcing a 10 per cent in- crease thus far in 1929 compared | with the same period in 1928, Al- | {van Macauley, president of the National Automobile Chamber of Commerce, indicated that this would be the best year in the mo- tor industry, speaking before a recent members’ meeting of the National Automobile Chamber of Commerce in Detroit. The February production of chamber members estimated from shipping statements was reported to the members as 342,344. This total is exclusive of Ford. With the latter figures added, it is clear that the month’s total will be the largest February on record and may prove to be the largest month in the history of the busi- ness. | “The gains in business this year | as compared with last are gratify- ing, not only because they show progress, but also because they in- dicate a conservative advance in production operations,” said Mr. Macauley. “The industry may look forward to the best year in its history. based on_ increases in general prosperity both here and abroad as well as on a more intensive use of motor transportation in a wide variety of carrying operations. Steady Progress Indicated. “Industry is always in the heal- thiest condition when it is making consistent steady progress, which is the situation indicated for this year. “In the United States highway construction is going forward at the rate of 40,000 to 50,000 miles of hard-surfaced roads per year. As rapidly as these roads are and high-grade commercial vehi- cle delivery service is being insti- tuted. “Passenger car trade is continu- ing active, especially because the cars in all price classes are being offered at the best values in the history of our business. Not only is there more attention to body work, but likewise there has been marked mechanical improvement with respect to acceleration, smoothness and power. “Our export trade was close to 850,000 vehicles during the past year, and _each car owner is, by his example, a salesman for motor transportation. Experience in the United States has shown that the more cars there are in the field the better is the market. That is true, not only because of replace- ment demand, but also because the convenience of motor trans- portation is its own best adver- tisement.” Production figures of members | of the National Automobile Cham- | ber of Commerce this year and | last year were as follows: Janu- | ary, ‘1928, 232,685; January, 1929, | made, according to Joseph Har- rington, hack inspector. During | 263,261; February, 1929, 320,822; February, 1929, 342,344. Moot Question of Issuing Summons on Reckless Driving Charges Explained| Epecial Dispatch to The Star. | BALTIMORE, March 16—Magistrate | Alva Lamkin of the Traffic Court this week explained a moot question of why | some automobile drivers are summoned | for trial on a charge of reckless driving | when the accident is obviously attribu- | table to another driver who failed to| give right of way, or when the accident | was not witnessed by the policeman who | issued the summons. | “There are several reasons for this| condition arising,” Magistrate Lamkin | sald. “First, there is the case where the | policeman did not see the accident. It | may be an accident at a street corner | involving a right of way, or it may be | an accident away from the corner | wherein the right of way is not to be considered. or it may be such a case | 2s the knocking down of a lamp post | or colliding with a street car or run- ning into a store front or the front of | a dwelling, or it may be striking a linker light or a s zone guard or | a guard al an excs jon in the street. “As I have said before, reckless driv- ing covers a multitude of violations. If the accident occurred at a street corner and one driver evidently failed to give right of way, the policeman usua gives the driver having the right of w summons charging him with reckless driving. This is done chiefly to keep the | records of the policeman clear. Many | drivers resent ‘he charge being placed | against them and contend that if the policeman were clear-headed he would be able to determine then and there that the only driver chargeable with any offense is the driver failing to give the right of way “This theory should apply 100 per| cent. but it does not. Now, why? Sim- plv because we have many drivers on the streets willing to take advantage of any technicality, and these drivers will probably agree on the street at the time of the accident that they are to blame in failing to give right of way and that the other driver, the one who | gets the reckless driving summons, is ot to blame “The policeman gives but one sum- | mons, and that is to the driver who failed to give right of way. A little later on and before the case is heard in traffic court this right-of-way vio- lator talks with his friends or his re tives and about the first question the: ask is whether the other driver got a gummons. When they are told he did ot he is urged to go to the trafiie cour! immediately and have the other drive charged with speeding or reckless driv mEWhen the right-of-way violator “tlan - meaus -tn —havn 4 B~ -ether | the crossing at not less than 35 miles | brought in on a reckless driving charge the policeman is brought into the pic- ture for an explanation as to why he did not give the other man a summons for reckless driving. The policeman re- piies that he saw the accident and felt that the man failing to give the right of way was the only violator and ac- cordingly issued but one summons. “The right-of-way violator then con- | tends that the other driver was making | an hour and that when he (the right- of-way violator) got to the intersection the other driver was either not in sight or more than half a block up the street. The policeman is not supposed to judge cases on the street. We have a traffic court for that purpose. The resuit is that the policeman takes no chances and both drivers get a summons, so that the trafic court may determine which is the guilty driver, “As 10 the accidents involving two or ‘more automobiles occurring other | than at a strect intersection, the police- man usually and without hesitation gives each driver a summons charging him with reckless driving, as it is a rare case that either driver will admit his_error. Usually there is an argu- ent between the drivers as to just vhere the blame should be placed and again the policeman takes no chances | in summoning but one.” AUTO EXTENDS SUBURB. “The automobile has made possible the modern suburb,” says Alfred Reeves, general manager of the National Auto- mobile Chamber of Commerce, in Build- ing Developer. “Before its advent the area of a suburban community was lim- ited to the convenient radius of a horse and wagon from the railroad statlon. Today the area is limited only to the rapid transit of the motor car and by the freight facilities afforded by the motor truck. One is likely to think at first that the automobile causes con- gestion in cities, but if we should re- place each motor car with a horse and buggy we can readily picture the piling up of this slow-moving trafic which would result.” | j l AUTOMOTIVE BRIEFS David Herson, connected with the automotive trade here for the past 15 | vears, has opened a chain accessory business. His present two stores are lo- cated at 1706 Seventh street and 3303-5 Faurtcanth.stvest, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WE WiLL NOW TAKE You ON A PERSONALLY CONDUCT- ED TOUR OF THE WASHINGTON MOTORISTS GALLERY OF WELL-KNOWN DRIVERS » C., MARCH 17, 1929—PART 4.° built bus lines are being installed e S G.1MAHOG, CHAMPION GRABBER OF PARKING NOTED FOR HIS FEARLESSNESS WHEN TAKING HIS iq TRAFFIC REGULATIO SPACE.— FAMED FOR CRASHING” SPACE WHEN SOMEONE WAS THERE FIRST. Ji e THE ONLY pED 1773- PorSod Fiuee —eo MAN WHO NEVER CONSCIOUSLY OR UNCONSCIOUSLY VIOLATED MOTOR. REGULATIONS- HE2AKIAH DUDD - BoRM 1130~ HERMAN P BLOTTD, THE. FIR ST MAN TO ACCEPT BLAME FOR AN ACCIDENTS o (i LUCIAN GLUX, WHO NEVER BAWLED SOME ONE ELSE OUT FOR. SOMETHING HE DID HMSELF. “JASPER J. KATVYDID, THE ONLY MAN WHO NEVER- BGOASTED ABOUT WHAT: HIS QAR COULD DO ONTHE 1I3™STTHILL, MRS IRMA DOLITTLE, CELERRATED FOR. NEVER HAVING DRIVEN FROM THE BACK SEAT. (PORTRAIT PRESENTED BY. A GRATEFUL ELMER FBUME SOoLE HIGH ScHooL BoYy WHO NEVER PAINTED “WISE~CRACIKS” ON HIS car.. STATES' CAR LAWS ARE VARIED PUZZLE Motorist Meets Differences] at Boundary Lines That | Complicate Procedure. BY HARVEY L. COBB. General Counsel, American Motorists’ Assn. ‘The motorist. iraveling from State to State. meets with varying rights and duties at each boundary line. He can- not know wherein the laws of one State differ from those of his own or a neighboring State and only by exercis- ing the highest degree of care can he ope to avoid annoying circumstances. As a general rule, non-residents are held amenable to the same regulations as resident motorists in the use of highways in a given State. The prac- tical difficulty of serving process upon the transient motorist, who has caused personal injury or property damage | while passing through a State, has been met by different States in different ways. Some States have adopted the theory that a non-resident motorist by simply using the highways thereby constitutes some State official his agent for the service of writs in any sult growing out of his negligent conduct. Such pro- visions in State motor codes have been broadly sustained by the Supreme Court of the United States. Power Is Limited. But the power of a State to desig- nate a State official as agent for a non- | resident motorist for the service of grocess is not without definite limita- on In a recent decision of the Supreme Court, a statute of the State of New Jersey, providing that a non-resident motorist, by using the roads of the State thereby constituted the secretary of State as the person to accept service of writs in any action against the non- resident for damages arising from negli- gent driving in the State, was held un- constitutional. Constitution Is Cited. Failure of the act to require that actual notice of the suit should be for- warded by mail or otherwise communi- cated to the non-resident defendant rendered the law invalid as offending the fourteenth amendment of the Fed- eral Constitution, the court held. “Where the service of summons is limited to & service of the secretary of State or some officer of the State, with- out more,” said the Supreme Court, “it will be entirely possible for a person injured to sue any non-resident he chooses, and through service upon the State official obtain a default judgment against a non-resident who has never been in the State, who had nothing to do with the accident, or whose auto- mobile having been in the State has never injured anybody. A provision of | law for service that leaves open such | a clear opportunity for the commission | of fraud or injustice is not a reasonable | provision, and in the case supposed cer- tainly would be depriving a defendant i,r his property without due process of aw.” TIRE TEST FLEETS GET HIGHER MILEAGE RATE Driving 22 Out of 24 Hours a Day Weeks and Months Over Worst | Conditions Has Its Reward. Driving test fieets continuously 22| out of 24 hours a day, for weeks and | months _until millions of tire miles have been run has been a big factor in today’s improved tire mileages. According to tire men, the test fleets always follow the weather, going into sections of the country where heat and | road conditions are hardest on tires. | The one now in Florida for a com- pany will drive 750,000 car miles or | 3,000,000 tire miles on its present trip, | Or considering the tire mileage in a| more understandable way, this figure | would represent approximately 500 round trips from New York to San Francisco. Going still farther, the tire man ex- plained how the test fleet of nine cars, driving around 45 to 55 miles an hour constantly for 22 out of every 24 hours, drives almost three times as many miles in a month as the average man drives in a whole year. The present excellent mileages re- ceived from the better grades of tires are largely due to the fact that tires are built to withstand these gruelling tests rather than made to deliver mile- ages for the average car owner. In this day of rapid progress and speed we are very apt to accept things as a mat- ter of course, without a thought of the time and money and effort expended to bring about the service we now enjoy. The test fleet is but one of the many ways for finding the stamina and wear- ing ‘J:nllues of tires and the points in ‘which.greater strength can-be hullt, _ TIRE WASTE ECONOMIES. Lack of Proper Care by Auto Own- ers Costs Vast Sums. Hardly any article in general use to- day gets more abuse than the automo- bile tire, yet none is more responsive to proper treatment. Every year literally millions of miles of tire service are lost through failure on the part of car own- ers to take says the Rubber Association of America. ! At this time of year owners shnu]d[COURT PLAN WINS FAVDR inspect tires carefully for stone bruises, ‘cu(s and minor punctures caused by[ driving over Winter roads. Deep ruts, | iagged icy surfaces and stones loosened | by frost have put an extra strain on tires, and careful inspection and re-| pair will pay immediate dividends in| cxtra mileage. The man who regards the automobile | Court is steadily growing. This court roper care of their tires,|as a luxury cannot consistently ride in |should have sessions night and day and | biles coming into the city from suburbs a Pullman car. Special Dispatch to The Star. BALTIMORE, March 1 5 'COMPLETE STUDY OF TRAFFIC NEEDED AS AUTOS MULTIPLY !Saféty Problems Up for Solution as Mil- lions of Motor Cars Enter Compe- tition on America‘s Highways. HUSBANE) 6.—A contin- | enter such sections. BY H. CLIFFORD BROKAW, Automobile Technical Adviser. ‘This matter of traffic is increasingly the subject of study as millions of new mobiles take to American highways. It is well that attention is being given to the problems growing out of complica- tions which arise as numerous vehicles undertake to get from one point to another. This is especially true in urban communities. Not only in the big metropolitan centers, but in the smaller | citles as well, is this traffic question be- | coming pressing. | In the smaller cities the streets are quite likely to be rather narrow, espe- cially the main thoroughfare where most of the business houses are located. One difficulty with these smaller communi- ties lies in the fact that the solutions of traffic problems are likely to be ex- |pensive and to involve bond issues. | Other suggestions include directing the |course of cars away from business | houses, and consequently they are likely {to affect adversely the trade of some business firms. Naturally such sugges- tions are not popular with whoever of | the merchants are affected. Metropolitan Centers Cited. In the big metropolitan centers the cost of putting into effect plans for | trafic which are really practical are {also costly. However, it is often easier |to put through effective measures. For | | one reason, in large centers of popula- | ton traffic congestion slows up busi- | {ness and_consequently retards business | profits. Industrial leaders are willing |10 pay taxes to help meet the cost of | improvements which will improve ‘the | facility | business can be carried on, |~ Some people believe that the present solution of automobile traffic in most of our American cities is to facilitate the movement of automobiles into and |out of the city and the movement of all vehicles on the streets as much as pos- sible. The theory of this seems to be | that if the movement of this traffic_is | speeded up congestion will tend to de- crease. If this were true in the past, it does not appear to be so at present. In some of the larger cities the main |arteries of entry are handling more | | vehicles than there are strects in the | « | downtown sections to accommodate. The traffic situation in these downtown sections consequently is not determined entirely by the desire of motorists to Most of them de uous day and night Traffic Court, as|cide to go downtown, but a great manv | proposed in a bill pending in the Gen-| ‘eral Assembly, has the approval of Po- lice Commissioner Gaither. |of them have a greater desire to avoid | the excessive traffic conditions, and con- | sequently park their cars in the more |outlying regions and use street cars to “The need for a continuous Trafic accomplish the last leg of their journey on Sundays.” | Perhaps some plan might be effected for controlling the destination of automo- and rural sections. Even without many | Performance That Thr Two High Speeds . . Standard Gear Shift Distinguished by their beauty and comfort, the new Graham-Paige sixes and eights possess also the thrilling performance of four speeds forward (two high speeds with standard gear shift). Only personal experience can give you an adequate appreciation of the new smoothness and swiftness of fourth —and the rapid acceleration in traffic and up steep hills of third, a quiet internal gear. You start in second; first, in reserve, is instantly available but Five chassis—sixes and eights—prices ranging from $885 to $2495. Car illustrated is Model 615 four door Sedan—six cylinder, 76 horse power, 115" wheelbase, $1195 (special equipment extra). All prices at factory. seldom used. with which the processes of ]nl these suburban automobiles, the city | would still have a problem, with fits trucks and business cars, its taxicabs and its vehicles owned by people living within the city limits. One Plan Is Commended. One plan which appears to be work- ing well In many communities is the providing of a route whereby the mo- forist_desiring merely to pass through the place in the least possible time is directed over streets which do not in- clude the main business thoroughfares. Signs are posted near the entrance to these communities to the effect that those wishing to find the business sec- tion may follow one sign—those wish- ing to pass through with the least pos- sible inconvenience are directed to pro- ceed in another direction. The larger the city, the better such plan is likely to be worked out. For one reason large cities have their own unique traffic prob- lems and can employ experts to help olve them. In small communities such experts are not so often employed The taxicab situation presents a com- plicated traffic problem. The impres- sion is that there are too many of them | This is probably a false impression, since the competition in this field is keen and only those are likely to survive who find it profitable to operate a single taxicab or a fleet of them. On a rainy day, when one has difficulty in finding a taxicab, complaint is made that there are not enough of them. Even on a pleasant day we are accustomed to be irritable if we do not succeed in secur- ing a taxicab on the spur of the mo- mrn’t. These vehicles form an important service. Congestion Problem Discussed. One relief for traffic congestion has to do with limitation of the time of park- ing automobiles in the business sections Even in some communities where park- |ing in the business areas is limited to from 30 minutes to an hour it is very difficult for one to find a place to leave a car within several blocks from where the owner wishes to do business. If the parking time is unlimited the situa- tion becomes much more complicated. Relief is frequently secured by limiting | the time of parking on the busiest thor- oughfares and setting aside other streets, usually the broadest ones, where motorists can park their cars for longer periods. What to do with truck and other usiness vehicles is a growing problem. To a certain extent they could be rout- cd along streets especially set aside for nch traffic. Some of those people who 'ave made the greatest amount of study ‘n this traffic situation believe that in large cities the only practical solution lies in building underground passage tunnels or streets below the regular street levels for the exclusive use of automobiles. (Copyright, 1929.) — Graham-Paige Company of Washington, D. C. Factory Branch—1526 14th Street N.W. E. B. Frazier Motor Co. 518 10th St. N.E. Logan Motor Co. 1812 E St. N.W. National Auto Sales Co. 33 N.Y. Ave. NE. GRARAM-PAIEGE