A Cause for Alarm

Four weeks ago, just after the Princeton game, a reasonable new yellow Ford convertible owned by a student returning from the game was crinkle-fendered by another car at the intersection of Bow and Mt. Auburn streets. A week later two Malden women were jarred when their car was struck, deflected, and deposited on the sidewalk at the same corner. A few hours later, another car was damaged as it remained stationary at the corner. These accidents represent but three in a long series of traffic mishaps at the confluence of these, streets, an intersection which a police official has termed "one of the worst in Cambridge."

Local traffic experts believe that this series of accidents is due to the poor visibility on the approaches to the intersection. The corner is marked by a triangular plot of land on which stands an aging building housing a clothing store and an undergraduate magazine; across the street from this structure is a cleaning establishment and another undergraduate publication. These structures effectively block the vision of any driver attempting to see through them to scan the traffic flow of the constantly active corner.

It is obviously imperative that these two structures be demolished. Otherwise this clear and present danger to safety will continue to take its toll from hapless students and local residents. It should be pointed out that these buildings are antiquated and serve no useful purpose; that they could profitably be replaced by a non-obstructive memorial park or playground. There is no alternative--advocates of a traffic light for a corner should realize that lights cost upwards of 250 dollars apiece, and that this year's Cambridge allotment is ear-marked for installation in concentric rings surrounding the Harvard Square Circle--there should be no hesitation. Personal property is at stake.