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Show Vhat About Dragging Main'? College Research Paper Gives Some Details on Problem (Editor's Note: The following feature, "The Main Street Drag" is the result ol a study and survey sur-vey that has been made by James E. Evans, a student at College of Southern Uta. Since the Information In-formation Is of extreme Importance Impor-tance to Cedar City generally It is printed as it was prepared for class room work.) by JAMES A. EVANS "Show us a law against It and we'll enforce it." This was the Answer of a Utah Highway Patrolman Pa-trolman to the question; "What can be done about teen-agers using Main Street for joy riding purposes?" This statement quite effectively sums up the inability inabil-ity of our law enforcement officers of-ficers to do anything about this growing problem in our community. commun-ity. That this is a problem is recognized rec-ognized by the city officials and steps are being taken to remedy It The purpose then of this paper pa-per is to present some pertinent facts and figures along with positive posi-tive suggestions gleaned from authorities, citizens, the teenagers teen-agers themselves, and a few personal per-sonal observations. To determine Just how serious the problem had become, a count was made on Main Street at five different times, throe on a weekday week-day and two on a weekend. The -cars counted were driven by teens and had only teen-age occupants. No car containing an adult was counted. Where any doubt existed exist-ed the car was not counted. Each count covered exactly fifteen minutes. Here are the results. COUNT MADE ON THUhsJAY Time No. of Cars 4:30 to 4:45 57 -6:30 to 6:45 33 S:00 to 8:15 76 COUNT MADE ON SUNDAY Time No. of Cars 4:00 to 4:15 61 5:30 to 5:45 t)l ! During these counts it was noted not-ed that some cars would pass the check point as high as five times in a fifteen minute period. Another peculiarity was that ra-jther ra-jther than travelling in a fairly steady stream, the cars were In bunches of four or five, travelling side by side and in file. The occupants oc-cupants were conversing from car to car and some hand holding between be-tween cars was noted. One driver driv-er was observed to travel one half of a block without looking to the direct front. Several pe-1 destrians escaped being hit In the crosswalk, at the Intersection of( Main and Harding Ave., only by their wariness and ability to step back aulcklv. As one observer put it, "Main Street in Cedar City quite often looks more like State Street In Salt Lake City." J The potential traffic hazard under these conditions is enor-! mous. That there has been no serious accident recently, can probably be attributed primarily to three factors: (1) The quick 'reflexes of the teen-agers. (2) The fact that the populace has become somewhat conditioned to the situation. (3) the Grace of God. I The Highway Patrol is ktcnly ! aware of the situation since Main Street is also a state highway. .Under the existing traffice regulations, regu-lations, about the only thing that can be done is to issue citations for improper turns. It seems the I favorite turn-around points are jat the Arctic Circle drive-In and 'the Cedar Crest Motel. The turns are usually made at the Arctic Circle by pulling to the extreme right of the roadway, sometimes clear off the road, and then swinging back across all lanes of traffic to complete the turn. At the Cedar Crest the turns are usually us-ually started from the nrooer lane and completed by going up! onto the Motel parking lot and then cutting back onto the highway high-way without making a stop as is required by law. In eUher case, the most dangerous way possible to make a turn. According to the Highway Patrol, Pat-rol, Vernal had a similar problem pro-blem and olved it by a few changes In traffic regulations after af-ter a study by the engineers. A study of the problem in Cedar City has been made by traffic engineers an, their recommendations recommen-dations are expected shortly. The city police, according to Chief Lambert, feel much the same as the Patrol. They can do little to curb the practice under existing regulations. Chief Lambert Lam-bert Re-Jed a few notes as to the I seriousness of the problem. Many tourists have written to the Chamber of Commerce stating tiict Cedar City Is th? noisiest community they have visited. It seems that no matter how many .times one teen-age driver meets I another teen-age driver he must sound his horn in greeting. Multiply Mul-tiply this by the number of cars dragging main" and add to it the screeching wheels and racing rac-ing motors and you can readily see what the visitors are talking about. Far more serious than the noise Is the mounting problems of gas stealing. Chief Lambert feels I that this is a result partly of the teens "dragging main". Buying gas is an expensive proposition, and when the tank Is empty and the pocket emptier the solution seems to be a siphon hose. The Chief suggests that if the parents would check the speedometer occasionally oc-casionally and then ask theh sons and daughters where the) were getting their gas. this problem prob-lem could be eliminated. Several citizens were Interview-ed Interview-ed on Main Street regarding the situation and the vast majority agreed that the most serious as- pect of the problem Is the traffic hazard. A few that the waste of time and money was a key factor. fac-tor. Opinions about what could be done varied widely. Mort common com-mon was the suggestion of providing pro-viding some sort of recreation to take the place cf "dragging". Stricter parent control, police-parent cooperation, and parent and youth educal!nr to tl.c problem were other suggested remedies. Everytne agreed that it was a problem that deserved serious attention. at-tention. The teens themselves have quite different views on the matter. mat-ter. A survey conducted at the high school among sixty-six junior jun-ior and senior students, showed that a surprising fifty-two per cent could see no harm In: the practice. Most of this fifty-two percent, however, were Juniors, indicating that with maturity and experience comes a clearer insight in-sight into the potential dangers of the road. A whopping ninety-five ninety-five percent said they do "drag main". Twenty-four per cent own their own f.-ars, the other seventy-six seventy-six percent use the fa ml!;' car or ride with someone else. Fifty per cent work during the school year. As to why these teens spend so much time "dragging main", the most common answer was; "to be with friends", or "nothing else to do". Actually these are probably different expressions of the same Idea. Here are some typical comments. "I really think that 'dragging main' is quite senseless and I am sure that If there were some other place to ; go, in which you could see all ' your friends and talk to them, ', then the kids would probably , stop 'dragging main'." "I drag main to be somewhere where par-ents par-ents or adults aren't snooping, ! nagging, or bossing, to get away from home and its troubles. I don't think anyone should discontinue discon-tinue our "dragging main". It doesn't hurt anyone." ". . . .you either 'drag main' or go park and if you don't believe in parking jVou 'drag main'." j A surprisingly small number .suggested a drag strip as a remedy, rem-edy, but close to sevently-five per cent felt that some sort of recreation center would be the answer. One told of how they used to meet at the public library lib-rary to do their homework but were ejected becaui1 of the noise and went back to "dragging main." What can be done? It seems evident that at least four things must be done. The first step should be a program to educate both parents and teens to the seriousness of the problem. As already indicated over half of the teen-agers see no harm In the practice. And since three fourths of these kids are driving their (parents' automobile and in most .cases burring their parents' gas, 'parents, too, should be educated to the hazards involved. Ideally speaking this one step should put jan end to the "Main Street (Drags." Since this will not work as well as it should, and even if it would, the second step must ,be to provide a substitute acti- ' ivity. The most popular suggestion sugges-tion is some sort of a teen-age recreation center under adult supervision. This should be a place where teens can gather to have a coke, visit, do their homework home-work together, play games such as shufflebo&rd and table tennis ten-nis and perhaps a dance once a week or on special occasions. The major argument against a youth center of this type is that it .would cost a lot of money. So do golf courses and race tracks, yet this community has been able i to raise money for both these. Adult recreation is important, so it youth. The other objection Is that we already have a movie theatre and bowling alley. Most movies are not fit entertainment for adults, let alone young people In their impressionable teens. As the teens themselves have stated, " . . . . the adults have taken over the bowling alley, and besides it Is so expensive." The third step is for adults to set a better example. Although I no count was made, It became 'obvious during the periods of ob-servatlon ob-servatlon that many adults were .riding aimlessly up and down Main Street along with the younger drivers. This whole program pro-gram would fail if conducted on a "do as I say and not as I do" basl3. The final step is one that would not be necessary If the 'other three could be counted on for one hundred percent effective- J ness. Since, however, there will! always be a few who will re-1 spond to no other treatment than .force, certain changes in traffic regulations on Main Street should be made. Since traffic engineers I have made a careful study of the j problem and their recommenda-! recommenda-! tions should be made 'soon, I will not make any suggestions here. Their recommendations should be followed and enforced. This should not be done as the primary pri-mary means of eliminating the problem. This should be cone as , part of a f arsighted, positive program pro-gram to aid our teen-agers in finding recreation and better use of their time and energies while at the same time making our streets safer and quieter for e very on |
