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Show Automobile Tourists Should Study Cities' Traffic Ordinances, t Ago.) TRAFFIC officers have certain traits In common which cannot be overcome, one of these being an unwillingness un-willingness to listen when motorists from out of town insist that the traffic !- if 1 if . 'If you Have a right- i hand drive car and you tcant to J turn a corner to' tho left, extend i 'the right an a9 .illustrated and ! 'swing it in a circle about 2 feet in diameter in the direction indicated- by ' the ' arrow. Swing 'it nlowly and-perhaps not moire than three or. four-times ' ordinance of Homeburg, in the next State south, says so-an-so, nnd that tho law ought to he the same In any other city. The visitor who becomes involved in a Btreet corner conference with the man in a uniform la apt to learn a few thlngg about traffic lawB that were never heard of back home, which may, or may not, mean that his home city Is behind the times. A Tule which he did not know was in existence anvwhere may lead to nil sorts of complexities and cause no little worry and inconvenience. The Bafe way Is to send to every cltv one Intends to visit and obtain copies of the local ordinance. The important traffic rules of twenty-two cities have ben tabulated by the Motor Age with the co-operation of the Chief of Police of each city. It Is common for residents of 8uh- urban townu to disobey the minor regulations, regu-lations, such' as rules against parking to certain Btreets, one way traffic in otber rtrcets, passing street cars on the wrong side or stopping at a lawful dla- SIL"?108'1 cars hlch have Btopped to tako on or unload paaaen-gers. paaaen-gers. The police argue that If suburbanites sub-urbanites are in the claeB of chronic j offenders it is not to be expected that I tne motorist from another Slate will make hia -war. aboui-wltlv-aajj-iiBs-ltt. wu.cuitiicG io nimseii or tne police unless he Informs himself at the outset. out-set. Parking Rccrulatlonn. It Is not safe to be guided by the traffic rules to show one Is accustomed In his home city. In some respects the regulations have been standardized However, local conditions necessitate special ordinances quite frequently. In San Francisco, Cal., for instance, where steep grades exist in nearly all parts of the city, it is the custom to leave cars standing with either the front wheel or rear wheel in contact with the curb, and the enr at an angle of from thirty to forty-five degrees. This, of course, 3 a precaution against runaway motor cbts. The city ordinances provide that this Is the lawful manner. A few cities require parking at an angle with the curb, whether gradea are present or not Among the cities where this will be seen are Dayton, Ohio; Kansas City, Mo.; Seattle, Wash., and Milwaukee, Wis. Elsewhere the ordinances specify that cars shall be parked parallel to the curb and facing In the direction of traffic. The ordinances ordi-nances of Birmingham, Ala., require vehicles parked with front and rear 1 fr 1 :ThU signal is for d car with steering wheel on the left and the signal is, intended for'thc case Ah whioh you are going to' turn a' corner to tho righ ' Th Isft hand, as illustrated, ls"alsot slowly sioung in a oirole 19 inohe or 2 feet in diameter, two, three, four, or perhaps more,, swings wheels within eighteen inches of the curb. Six Inches lesa space Is allowed In Denver, Col. The motorist In New Orleans, La., Is permitted to stand his car at an angle with the curb, with the machine headed In the direction of , traffic. If ho attempted to back his : car against the curb in this fashion In' another city he would straightaway! fin -himself in a dispute. with, a traffic! umccr ana on tne wrong side of the argument Itecnrdlnc night of Wny. Tlie question that probably arises most frequently in lawsuits under the 7" - - cccc-o gggg & obon Cart aiiwr not 6c Icjt near hydmntt irju.ut; urumnncen ana statutes involves in-volves the right of way. To determine which of two vehicles has the right of way is often sufficient to decide a case. It Is well, therefore, to give particular attention to the ordinances of different cities with regard 0 the sections covering cov-ering that point. Considerable inconvenience is caused daily in all large cities by the failure of motorista to pay heed to tho parking restrictions in downtown streets. 'Cities are constantly experimenting to' overcome the difficulties arising from this source. Pnrking privileges are limited to fifteen minutes in a few cities. Boston, Mass., sets a limit of five minutes in certain streets and ten minutes in other Btrcets In the business district The time restrictions vary from five minutes to one hour. .Without exception tho space' in front of theatrefl in every large city is cither reserved for vehicles receiving and dis-chartrmir dis-chartrmir Datrons of thu fhonfrnu nT- r taxlcaba. Parking is prohibited before the entrances of office buildings also in the majority of cities. Most cities, too, set aside certain streets in the oon- Patting 0 itrest 'car at tho lejt, tTvioHtian -if tho law gosted districts where cars are not permitted per-mitted to stand nt any time, or between stated hours when the tide of traffic is at its height morning or evening. One of the questions put to the traf- 1 Iflc chiefs by Motor Age was: "How can motorists in your city help in the improvement of the traffic conditions under the existing regulations?" Captain A. L. Denman. chief of the traffic dlvlsiono-tho Chicago Police Department replied that motor car owners can avoid driving through the congested business centres of the city during the hours between nine o'clock In the morning and six o'clock in the evening. Besides making quicker time In cross streets lying outside the business busi-ness district, there Is more safety in travelling the less, crowded streets. Similarly, In other cities the police recommend that vehicles be kept out of the business and shopping districts unless un-less required to go there. Pai-ticular emphasis Is laid on this point by the Boston traffic code, the same city which limits parking to only five or ten minutes. min-utes. For his own comfort It Is well for the out of town motorist to wait until the arc lights arc turned on before Ttie'rioht tTdjTw pfcs street cars it the tajl vau he attempts to make a passage of any of the downtown thoroughfares. Strangers in New York city think tbejr have not seen the town until they have made a tour of Fifth avenue. Seeing See-ing Fifth avenue is therefore a popular pastime, in spite of all that the overworked over-worked traffic officers can do to discourage dis-courage any unnecessary use of that thoroughfare. In Borne New York streets cars travel in three continuous rows in both directions, direc-tions, and the driver wishing to turn Into a side street at the left must manage man-age his car as if he were on a moving stairway, where he has to step off and get his bearings afterward. He cannot turn across Fifth avenue without halting halt-ing at least four, and possibly six. lines of vehicles. To obviate delays of this . kind the driver turns to the right into'; I a cross street, makes the circuit of the blork and joins the line of traffic which is moving in the direction in which he wishes to go. Tbc Street Car Problem. A motorist mny know the habits of street cars in his own city from A to Z; yet street cars and motormen in different differ-ent cities behave in strange ways and not at all as the tourist might expect The distance which motor cars are required re-quired to stop behind street cars while passengers are getting on or off varies considerably, as shown In the table In smaller cities it may be observed often that motormen display more consideration considera-tion for motor car drivers than motor-men motor-men in larger cities. Doubtless this is the result of their not having so many things to watch as the motormen in a large city runninir on n oinn cv.o,.,i through crowded streets. f Again, It may be due to a rule of certain transit companies giving the right of -way at intersections to the cars travelling In a northerly or southerly south-erly direction. When Buch a rule applies ap-plies It causes motormen to watch each other at Intersections rather than other vehicles, nnd It also results in one street car going ahead when a motorist mlcht have expected the other one to proceed. pro-ceed. l The direction of right of way for street cars, however, will always cor- This tignat U for o , VffFlfiffh iKe uttering wheel on the left tide. The tgnal is to extend the left hand horixontaflv, whioh mean either that you art, goino to atop or that you am going to m. a corner to the left. respond with the direction prescribed ninu fr otber vehicles In those cities which have adopted this oyg. Street cars atop at the near side of he street in practically every large 3 tv An exception is Denver. Col., and tie motor car driver who Is not airarVS i the fact should put himself on the i lookout ( gg1 Safety Zone. 'fjj The safety zones in cities where ihen. W have been established will indicate the ; ft distance to stop behind street care or . & Ll LLC & When stopping, if the m steering Wheel is on the right-hand j side, extend ft arm. hnr4znntn.Hn. II - - --- " - p This signal also means you are go- r j ing to turn a corner at the right'. y the distance to pass at the side. Los jl Angeles ha3 recently established safety ; II zones and safety lanes in the shopping- ?J district, similar to those of Detroit, Of Mich. In the congested streets a driver j need not wait for a street car to proceed L if he can pass outside the lines of tho- (. I safety zone at a distance of four feet ' I from the steps of the car. Otherwise he f I must wait, and in other parts of the f- I city the rule that motor vehicles shall f come to a stop ten feet In the rear of ; B the street car is enforced. '.' g The following cities have semaphore t; S systems m operation Boston, New rs York, Detroit, Indianapolis, Ind.; Day- J ton and Denver and several other' t j cities are experimenting with sema b phores. To arrive In a city where both' I -the safety zone system and semaphores i I are lu use and successfully keep onc'u r I eyes open for both, though unaccus- ? toined to either, offers a splendid test $ of the motorist's skill. J I He who visits several cities and con- ; H forms to the diverse regulations of each ,, and all of them has accomplished a feut l that justifies some measure of pride. . B ijven the seasoned motorist finds It dif- B f cult t5 acquire tho knack of doing the W right thing at tho right time whru W driving in cities other than his own. I HI A wise step in making preparations ? E for a tour is to mail a request to every jl K city one will visit, addressed to thn M I) Chief of Police or to the City Clerk, m m requesting a copy of the traffic ruktf 1 '5, and ros-jLitions. . Jp |
