Evening Star Newspaper, April 7, 1929, Page 60

BETTER TRAFFC FADLTESURGED Association Declares Inad- . equate Regulations €Cost $2,000,000,000 Annually. An economic loss of more than $2,000,000,000 is suffered by the people of the United States annually through the failure to provide adequate traffic facilities, according to the American Motorists’ Association. ‘This staggering figure, which repre- sents a per capita loss of nearly $20, is based upon careful studies of specific trafic problems which are indicative of those common throughout the United States. “The most grave waste of human life arises from our relative failure, thus far, to cope adequately with the prob- lems of motor-car traffic,’ Dr. Julius | Klein, director of the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, - declared in commenting upon prevalent traffic problems. “During the year just ended nearly 25,000 persons were killed, more than 700,000 suffered serious personal injury through accidents and the total economic loss due to the destruction of property, to congestion and to other causes incident to inadequate traffic facilities is estimated to be not less than $2,000,000,000 annually.” Losses By Death Stressed. ‘The death loss has increased during the past several years in proportion to the number of automobfles in use, the association declares. For example, in 1922, when regsitration totaled $12,238,- 000, the number of automobile fatali- ties numbered 14,000. Last year, when registrations reached 24,496,000, the number of fatalities was 25,000. Statsticians estimate that for each fatal accident 25 to 30 persons are injured as the result of automobile mis- haps. Using that basis, approximately 400,000 persons were injured in 1922 as compared with nearly 700,000 in 1928. There are many factors contributing to the total estimated $2,000,000,000 loss. Some of these cannot be com-| puted in money equivalent, but studies | have given some pecuniary significance | to them. Factors Enumerated. ‘These factors are enumerated by the association as follows: ‘Time lost by vehicles in operation over congested thoroughfares; increased cost due to traveling extra distances between origin and destination where a more direct route is economically desirable and possible; increased oper- ating and maintenance costs of vehicles where road surfaces are not of proper type and where grades might be economically reduced; time. lost at grade intersections; community costs due to absence of traffic police, signal systems and other regulatory faciiities; delays due to congested turns, poor name signs and badly marked and maintained detours; loss to merchants; dormant real estate values; increased costs and delays incident to the tole- ration of vehicles unsuited to local conditions, and other causes which do not admit of general crassification. Congestion a Menace. Detailed traffic tallies indicate that eongestion is costing one community of about 150,000 people $35,000 a day, while the cost in metropolitan New York City due to traffic congestion has been estimated at $1,000,000 a day. In Philadelphia delays in the opera- tion of a fleet of taxicabs because of | BasO] congestion amounted to 8.5 per-cent of the working time of the cabs, or about $2.50 per day per vehicle. “These tremendous losses, estimated in terms of money, demonstrate the need for more adequate traffic facili- tles,” declares Thomas J. Keefe, general manager of the American Motorists’ Association. “The burden falls upon all members of the general public and all have an interest in the reduction of these losses. Figures show, too, that expenditures for providing traffic facili- ties are justified in the public interest through the saving of life, prevention of injury, reduction in losses of travel- ing time, lower transportation costs and many other factors which contribute to the estimated $2,000,000,000 annual economic loss to the Nation.” POINTS TO DANGERS IN ROUNDING CURVE Maryland Official Cites: Disobedi- ence of Law by Motorists on Uphill Grades. e Bpecial Dispatch to The St BALTIMORE, April 6—While prac- tically every motorist knows that it is & violation of the law to pass a'vehicle while approaching the crest of a hill or entering a curve, it is remarkable how few realize the type of danger such a violation entails, according to E. Aus- tin Baughman, commissioner of motor vehicles. Many drivers get themselves and others ‘into accidents because they do not study or try to analyze the reasons for “don’t” and “musts” in the auto- mobile laws, he said. “Passing car one is overtaking, while approaching the top of a hill, or enter- ing a curve, constitute two of the most dangerous traffic hazards conceivable,” Commissioner Baughman declared this| A week, “and yet it is remarkable how few persons seem to realize this fact. “This is strikingly illustrated in the examination which drivers must_take before being given a license. Prac- tically all of them will answer correct- ly when asked the question, ‘Can you pass a car you are overtt.kinmfi. while lpprowhlng the crest of a or on a curve?” but comparatively few can answer when asked why and frankly admit that they do not know why this is more dangerous than passing a car on a straight, level road when the view ahead is unobstructed. “It is remarkable how few of the persons being examined as well as drivers alr licensed seem to en- vision the fearful danger of meeting another car, perhaps a dashing toward them from the oppo- site direction, just as they reach {:e crest of a hill or center of a blind curve while on the wrong side of the road, while passing another car from e OF ‘oourse, when ‘wich pemin “Of course, n such passing from the rear is done on gr proaching the top of a hill, the driver who has thus gotten his car over on the STATE AUTO TAXES | declared Thomas P. Henry, president t [ 813; Ohio, 1,649,699; Illinois, 1,598,205 Auto Is Employed By Coach to Teach Men to Buck Line Rugged power, unusual strength and stamina are essentials in both foot ball players and good automo- viles. When Coach Tad Weiman of the University of Michigan wishes to develop these qualities in his play- ers, he turns to the automobile for features he desires. With the opening of the Spring foot ball training season at the Uni~ versity of Michigan, Coach Weiman devised a new and unique method of eliminating the. Winter kinks from his players. The players were met at the field with a coupe driven by the coach, and attached to the front bumper of which was a 12-foot beam, This device makes an ideal bucking machine and serves admirably in training the athletes in the fine points of line bucking. SHOW B GANS Increase Twice as Much as Registrations, Annual Survey Reveals. o State motor vehicle taxes increased twice as much as motor vehicle regis- trations in 1928 and the average per vehicle for tax for the country in- creased 6 per cent in 1928 over 1927, according to the annual survey of the American Automobile Association. The total increase of motor vehicle registration for the United States in 1928 was 6.9 per cent, while the in- crease in the total amount of special car taxes (exclusive of personal prop- erty taxes) for the 48 States and the District of Columbia was 13 per cent, “The facts disclosed by our annual motor vehicle registration and taxation map reveal to a greater extent than ever before the heavy proportion of taxes that the motorists are bearing,” of the A, A, A. ™Car owners of the Nation have always been ready to stand for taxation for road building, but there has been a deplorable ten- dency toward taxing the motorists for various other public improvements and in many instances there has been rank discrimination.” Federal Exemption Lauded. Officials of the motoring body pointed out that retirement of the Federal Government from the taxing field early in 1928, through repeal of the war ex- cise tax, was an important step in the campaign . for fair taxation of car owners. Following is & summary of other facts brought out in the ‘annual tax Teview: S First. The average per vehicle tax levy for the entire country was $25.2¢ in 1928, as compared with $23.78 in 1927, an increase of 6 per cent in a period of 12 months. - The per vehicle tax has increased 295 per cent since 1919, when it stood at $8.55. Second. ‘Special taxes collected from car owners by the States reached a new hlgh peak last year, with a total of $624,325,670, as compared with $552,- 629,828 in 1927, an increase of $71,- 695,842. Third. The States’ revenue from the line tax increased 26 per cent in 1928, the total being $310,906,417, as compared with $254,109,262 the previous year. ‘While seven States reported 1928 registrations of more than 1,000,000 motor vehicles, a Commonwealth passed the 2,000,000 mark for the first time when New York reported total regis- tration of 2,051469. The six other States in the million class were: Cali- fornia, 1,812,807; Pennsylvania, 1,653, Michigan, 1,251,221, and Texas, 1,207, 441. Massachusetts, as in 1927, con- tinued to maintain elghth place on the list, with 885,301 registrations. Pennsylvania Leads in Tax. In State fees, drivers’ license and gasoline taxes the highest- five were: Pennsylvania, $49,622,603; California, $39,141,663; Michigan, $37,011,427; Onio, $36,724,956, and Texas, $35,995, 7. California led in the amounts col- lected from the gas tax, with $29,909,- 709, while other leading States were: Ohio, $24,884,698; Pennsylvania, $22- 508,826; " Michigan, $18,334,840, - and Texas, $18,285,187. The five States with the highest per vehicle tax were: Florida, $45.86; Ore- gon, $43.70; Arkansas, $43.60; Georgia, $38.60, and Virginia, $38.54. with $9.71, had the lowest per ,vehicle tax levy. PROPER CAR CARE URGED ON OWNERS Coolican Sees Major Portion of Motor Troubles Due to Lack of Preventive Measures. Systematic car care as the key to successful automobile ownership is em- phasized by Oscar Coolican, W. A. T. director, who says that a major por- tion of all motor troubles may be trac- ed back to a lack of preventive mea- sures taken the owner. g Mr. Coolican’s view, systematic car care is an economy not only in the troubles caught at their inception, and' in the generally - im< proved operating ties of the ma- <hine as a whole, but also in the larg- er potential troubles which are in- definitely postponed by the attention the well equipped maintenance depart- ment gives to the car. - “Only through systematic treatment can the car owner hope to realize these three important results,” Mr. Coolican says. “It is obvious, of course, that the pleasure of motoring is enhanced when the car is given periodic lubrication, tightening, and the like, It also is obvious that by running the car into the service station at regular intervals, those little troubles that crop up from time to time can be remedied quickly and inexpensively. ‘motorists overlook the less ob- well maintained cars are vitably subject. Consistent care will ead of him until it is too late to| make Illinots, [ 7 Zaa j LT~ ;4/ .!fi \ !\: ' 1929by Prask H Deck, Trade MR . € %5t o) Motorists in Virginia Pick Roads That Are Smooth, Even if Longer RICHMOND, Va., April 6 (#).—The tendency of the automobile driver to seek the smoothest road, even though the route be longer, is well illustrated by a check of the vehicle travel over Virginia highways. Engineering has been the main problem in the mountains, comprising 8 large part of the cost of construction. The grade and condition of the high- ways in .the mountains has been a much more important factor to travelers than the distance between points. Often the longest route has proved the shortest from the stand- point of time. Four important - hard-surfaced Vir- Where to Motor and Dine B i sl CROSS INN_Grinersure, ¥a. Cooked Sunday Dinners, $1.00; Chicken Dinners, $1.50. “Just s pleasant drive.” MEALEY'S ™ == On Old Frederick Pike Country Dinners served to please you on short notice. The Mecca for tourists on Sundays and holidays. ROSE HILL MANOR North Market St. Frederick, Md. 1s Now Open the Season Good Old Maryland Cooking WAYSIDE INN FREDERICK, MD. All Rooms With Bath $2.50 to $3.50 Double $1.50 to $2.00 Single DINNERS Sged From 75c¢ to $1.50 Olney Farm 2 Miles North n&lfimglm out Ga.Ave unci\con Tea nner 5¢~-$200 50¢ 25§20 Open Every Day In The Year Asfiton133 __ Olhey Md. BROOKE MANOR Old Colonial Inn—Built 1773 Beautiful Lawns and Old Shade Trees LUNCHEON 3:% DINNER $2.00 Ashton, Md. Telephone Ashton 141. THE HILL TOP HOUSE Among the Mountains Harpers Ferry, W. Va.: Most pict: ue view in- (] Valley - A beautiful drive and an-ideal place to dine at the end of your trip. The Tarry Tavern Two Miles From Mt. Vernon On the Richmond to Washingto Famous for Fried Waffle Dinners, $1.25 Mrs. M. E. Brown, Hostess Phone Lorton 3-H Hotel Snyder Cedar Grove, Md. B Bl el e Ham Dinners Phone Damascus 17-F-5 Woodward’s Dixie Tavern Famous for Its Chicken and Country Ham $1.00 and $1.50 Opposite Court House Rockville, Md. _ROOMS [RED FOX TAVERN | ° Middleburg, Virginia | R T Rooms with and without private bath Catering to ‘all kinds of parties, | I luncheons and dinners > Movied in the new RED-FOX -THEATER on Monday, wn--gn-m Saturday evenings 7 ginia highways, carefully checked for a number of days, show that traffic increased 36.5 per cent in 1928 over 1927. The average increase for the JUST AS YOU'VE DEMONSTRATING A TRICK SPARK PLUG, AND ARE ABOUT TO MAKE SOME SALES, A COP ORDERS TO MOVE ON. YOU State highway system as a whole, in- cluding the non-hard-surfaced roads, was between 13 and 15 per cent. The Richmond-Washington highway, one of the main south highways from the National Cepital, showed an in- crease in traffic amounting to 41.76 per cent between Washington and Alex- andria and 2642 per cent between Washington and Predericksburg. ‘The amount of hard surfaced road FINISHED in Virginia increased 26.5 per cent in the period from 1925 to 1928. In addition, 1,050 miles of sofl, gravel and sand-clay highway was oiled and im- proved. The State's 7,000 miles of State hightays show a relatively small percentage to unimproved, even through the mountainous sections the west. The State has hard sur- faced 2,448 miles of the 7,000-mile in | design on a casing in about 100 miles, New Detroit Bridge To Canada Longest Suspension Span DETROIT (#).—The new Ambas- sador Bridge, linking the United" States and Canada across the De- troit River, wil: be lighted both countries. The hrmx:'e wlu:’ com- pleted will be the longest single-span suspension bridge in the world, mur\ng 1,850 feet from tower to MILLIONS WASTED Mileage Variations as High as 40 Per Cent Are Shown in Tests. Last year tire manufacturers in the United States made nearly 60,000,000 casings. valued wholesale at more than $670,000,000, or at retail more than a billion dollars. Since tests show varia- tions in tire mileage as'high as 40 per cent, the needless waste can be con- servatively estimated in the hundreds of millions. Observance by all drivers of a few simple rules of tire care would reduce the waste to a minimum. Paradoxically, the more the automo- bile is improved the harder it seems to be on tires. Four-wheel brakes now stop a car at twice the speed in half the time required a few years ago. Un- fortunately, if habitually slapped on at high speed these brakes will wear out tires far faster than four times as soon. Poor brakes, conversely, burn up tires, ‘Unevenly adjusted brakes scuff out cas- ings as a lame boy scuffs out shoes. The experts say 9 out of 10 cars are habitually run with brakes unevenly adjusted. Increased speed tears down tires, too, but as the number of cars in use in- creases traffic must be speeded up. Slowing down and stopping remain about_constant, which is fortunate, for tests have shown that a car driven at| 35 miles an hour and stopped every quarter mile will wear away the tread where one-quarter as many stops will not have the same effect in less than system. i 30 times the distance, or 3,000 miles. 1l IN ABUSE OF TIRES = WASHINGTON AUTO DEATH RATE GAINS increase of 3 Per Cent Per 100,000 During Year Shown in Survey. The automobile death rate in Wash- ington increased more than 3 per cent per 100,000 of population during the year ended March 23, while the rate for the entire country was increasing approximately 5 per cent, and the rate ‘Washington increased about 50 per cent during the four-week period ended March 23 as compared with the same four weeks last year, according to an automobile death rate survey for 78 large cities of the country, on which a report has just been made by the United States Department of Com- merce. This report shows that during the four weeks ended March 23, 1929, 78 large cities in the United States re- ported 525 deaths from . automobile accidents. This number compares with 421 during the four weeks ending March 24, 1928. Most of these were the result of accidents which occurred within the corporate limits of the city, although some accidents occurred outside of the city limits. For comparison, the number of deaths due to automobile accidents within city limits is desirable. Such figures are available for the four-week period end- ing March 23, 1929, and for the corre- sponding four-week period of 1928 for all of the 78 cities, the four-week figure in 1920 being 452 as contrasted with 361 for the corresponding four weeks in 1928. Considering by four-week periods since May, 1925, total deaths from automobile accidents for 78 cities, regardless of place of accident, the lowest total (346) appears for the four-week period ending March 27, 1926, and the hest (771) for the four-week period ending Decem- ber 29, 1928. Washington had 9 deaths from auto- mobile accidents during the four-week period ended March 23, 8 of which occurred as a result of accidents in the city. These figures are compared with 6 deaths from automobile acci- dents during the same four-week period last year. During the 52-week period ended March 23 last there were 125 deaths in ‘Washington from automobile accidents, 79 of which were due to accidents in this city, as compared with 106 deaths during the previous 52-week period, of which 80 were from accidents within the city. erformance. . without parallel regardless of road or speed Faeton . . Roadster Espano Sedan Coche Cupe Business de Luj All prices at factory 84 * .and up at the factory DE i > IT isn’t enough these d-ya that a car shall get you there and back. The world is stepping to a livelier tune. And De Soto Six is setting the pace that the spirit of the time demands. Performance without parallel — speed and flashing get-away—re- sponsiveness that exhilarates—a grip on the road at any gait that spells security—these are De Soto’s. Try for yourself De Soto’s incom- parable smoothness and ease of handling —the acceleration that spins the speedometer to a wind. swift pace. Exult in the ample power still left for utmost effort. Appreci- ate how quickly, cleverly De Soto Six maneuvers through traffic—how gallantly it sweeps you humming along the open highway. Here vivacious beauty is in fine complement to brilliant perform- ance—to superb craftsmanship— and to that inherent stamina which . insures years of thoroughly de- pendable transportation. MAYFLOWER MOTORS, Inc. 2819 M Street N.W. _Moncure Motor Co. Quantico, Va.. Moreland Motor Co. Waldorf, Md. . Associate Dealers Roney Motor Co. So10 S1X @ CHRYSLER MOTORS PRODUCT Phone North 1104 Lawrence W. White Md