New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1908-08-02
F4VORS FEDERAL LAW.
c. T. Terry Discusses Contradictory
AUTO Statutes of the States.

The condition of the motor vehicle laws through
out the United States both ntolerabe and ridicu
lous,' said Charles Thaddeus Terry of the Amer-
can Automobile Association, yesterday in discuss
ing automobile legislation
"They are ridiculous because of their inconsistent
and contradictory provisions, and they are intoer-
able because of the fact that no two states have
been able to agree upon reasonable and sane
law. which would regulate the automobile as 1t
should be regulated and at the same time conserve
the rights of pedestrians and of horse drawn
vehicles
Without fair laws good roads are of to
the automobilist In thirty-one states find reg
istration Of motor vehicles is required. In each
state there is different requirement and the fees
from % cents to SIS. In six states the local
authorities may require registration in their par
ticular localities. In ten states license operate
is required, in addition to registration In eight
states the registration and license laws of the other
states entirely dsregarded. and non-residents
passing through required to re-register their
vehicles and pass examination as 10 their COM
petence to drive. In four states non-reSidents
empt from the registration provisions of state laws
not exempt from the registration and license
requirements enacted by local authorities. In
seven states non-residents exempt for periods
of time ranging from twenty-four hours TO sixty
days.
The most striking illustration of ridiculous and
intolerable state enactments is to be found in the
Eastern States. In matters of speed and rules of
the road the automobilist is not only harassed by
the divergent and contradictory state laws but In
most states he is subject to restrictions imposed
by local authorities. The speed limitations range
from four TO twenty miles hour, changing ac-
cording to locality and the automobilist without
the slightest negligence danger to other users
of the highway. may violate the speed laws six
or eight times in a of sixty miles
There are only two states which at the present
time have reasonable sensible speed Limitation
provisions. They are Connecticut and Florida. On
the whole our motor vehicle laws form a most
striking demonstration OF the extreme provincial
ism of our most important states, and have found
after thorough examination and after appearing
before many meetings of farmers and residents
of small places that the cry the state legislators
to the effect that the farmer is hostile the auto
mobile and that he demands those radical pro-
visions in the law is without truth The kick is
not from the farmer, from the chief poli-
ucian and demagogue, who is ever ready to make
capital out of the nearest available material
THE salvation for the automobiles and also for
the average citizen Is the enactment of a federal
automobile registration BILL such as has been
drafted and presented to Congress through tbe
American Automobile Association and there js not
the slightest question in my mind about its he
coming law, because it is recognized as the onIv
right and expedient means through which all in
terests may be adequately and equitably taken
care Of