The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1908-12-30
NEW AUTO LAW.
One Proposed For The New England
States.

I
New England states, the Massaehu-
sets highway commission has drafted
a law relative 20 motor vehicles and
the operators thereof, as Il was au-
thorized 70 do by the conference, and
the enactment of this law will be
urged upon the legislature Of each New
England state az its next session In
order to secure uniformity in antomo.
bile legislation throughout the com.
Try.
The act suggested presents what
amounts TO codihcation Of all the
laws Of the New England states and II
is safe to say that each and every
state at present has some worthy
statute peculiar 10 ,itself These the
commission has collected and embodied
in uniform law.
Prominent Provisions.
Some of the more prominent proyi.
sions OF the suggested act are as fol-
lowsi
A limit of 10 days has been adopted
for period during which non residents
of any state may operate car there
in without payment Of a registration
feet but new definition or non resi-.
dent" makes il such as to exclude all
persons who have regular places OF
business or abode for three months or
more during the year within such state;
such persons are required 10 pay re-.
gistration fees, but they are allowed
q special three .months registration,
good for July, August and September,
at ane.half the regular fee.
mother requirement is that the rear
number shall be illuminated az night,
but the present Massachusetts regula.
ton requiring lamps 20 be numbered
has been eliminated. This requirement
i,as proven in practice TO be OF no val.
ue and in many cases it has resulted
In hardship.
A provision has been inserted setting
forth what shall be deemed TO be an
adequate brake, this having heretofore
been hacking in the laws Of all New
England states, and Is now copied from
those OF New Jersey
The authority having Jurisdiction
over automobiles under the proposed
act Is empowered to refuse or revoke
the registration Of ear which Is found
not to have the equipment required by
law. An automobile which cannot be
operated safely, Il is held, should not
be allowed to endanger the lives OF
other users Of the highway.
The proposed law fixes q minimum
limit Of Is years Of age for private OPP
orators and IS years for chaufFeurs, and
the existing Massachusetts provision
that no person shall employ an I'm.
licensed chauffeur has been incorporat-
cd. Chaufeurs are defined so that the
term win include all persons who re-
ceive compensation for services in con-
ncetion with automobiles, whether di.
rectly or indirectly,
Operating Licenses.
IL has been found in practice that
demonstrators, statesmen and repairmen
who are constantly operating cars up.
on the road, and who often run them
" high speed and recklessly, have been
operating under private owners license
Under existing Massachusetts, law these
Licenses do not expire yearly, 50 1t has
been deemed wise 10 include provision
that all operating licenses, Of whatever
class, shall expire each year.
Dealers" are defined In the new law
40 as to include persons who rent au-
tomobiles. This IS done to allow such
persons to take out dealers license,
so.called instead Of ohliging them to
register and pay fee for each auto
mobile which they operate.
Garages under the new law will in
clude all public garages and clubs
where anyone may keep an automobile,
and it Is required that every garage
shall check all automobiles both in and
out, so that authorities and owners
Ray ascertain whether a car was in the
garage or out on the road at any given
time. This is designated to help to pre-
vent the unauthorized use of cars and
much OF The 10Y riding which has
been found to be conductive to acct
dents.
The proposed law establishes a5
miles an hour as the extreme speed
limit, with provision that Judge
may place on ale any complaint Of ex-
cessive speed. If III Mis- opinion ID was
unintentional, Of If ''no person or prop
erty could have been injured thereby
This maximum was aropted for two
reasons first. at any greater speed
motor vehicle tears UP and destroys
mscadam road; second, such maxi
mum speAd must be recognized as fair
by automobilists themselves.
Result of Searching.
Every automobilist, it is pointed out,
realizes that many times one "scorcn-
er" viii start up an cars ahead of him
in attempting to pass them, as they
must keep up an unlawful speed or be
enveloped IN cloud IF dust.
A limit Of eight miles per hour is
suggested around corners and curves
and at intersections Of streets, in order
10 secure uniform conditions. The new
law also provides that local regulations
shall not become operative unless APP.
proved by the central authority of
given state, this provision also being
inserted in the interest of uniformity.
Relative to registration fees, the |
law provides that they shall be based !
upon horsepower. This being deemed |
the factor which most closely governs
the damage done by an automobile to |
q highway. as well as the cost Of the
cor. A uniform fee Of 80 cents per
horse power per car, graded in multi
pies of 10. has therefore been provided
in the proposed law. On a basis of L.
500 cars fat rate Of so cents per
horse power will raise S23.935, or an
average Of Si2.74 per car. Assuming
that automobiles average $4,000 miles |
i year an extremely low figure. the 4