The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1910-04-30
RULES OF THE ROAD.
Common Sense Comments ON Simple
Rules to BE Observed by AutOmo-
biIistS and Others.
To the Editor of The Item:

mobiles in to the city and county of
Sumter, it seems to me to be wise
that each automobilist and each driv-
er Of a vehicle should be posted on
more matters as to the rules of the
road, than they are at the present
| time.
"Automobileists realize that the mo-
tor vehicle laws have been enacted
for their protection, as we'll as the
safety Of other users Of the public
| thOroughfare. A speed maniac is AS
much a danger to motor vehicle users
as he is to pedestrians and to those
| who drive horses. Therefore, it is to
the best interest of motoring that au-
tomoblists are in favor of legislation,
which has a tendency to eliminate
reckless and dangerous conduct"
The above paragraph, I have quot
ed from a popular magazine on "Sim-
pie Law that Every Motorist Ought to
| Know"
people, a prejudice against automo-
| biles. l really think / meet it more
today than I did ten years ago, when
| first drove an automobile.
1t is law accepted by drivers in
| most countries, that a man with the
! fastest horse has the right to pass
ho ic 6riy ell
| and very rarely does a driver object,
even after a trial of speed to let the
| faster horse get by. Yet today. some
men are absolutely indignant, if by
blowing your horn, you attempt to
pass their vehicle, propelled by
horse that has been ploughed four
! days of the week
1t is a fact that when a vehicle,
in town or country, stops a sliding
gear car, four changes of the lever
must be made before the car is again
at it's gait before it was stopped.
Multiply this five to ten times in a
| city block and it is hard both on the
driver and on the machine.
Again it seems as if motor vehicles
paying taxes on a much higher valu-
| alton than the horse and wagon, or
| the OK and cart, should have at least
the same privileges of the road that
the horse and vehicle do.
negro with a deere It horse and
decrepit wagon, within he last
week, on a country road in a narrow
| place, deliberately drove twice in
front of my automobile, apparently
with the hope that 1 would destroy
his decrepit wagon and then be COM
PEELED to go into my pocket and fur
nish him a new one on the theory
that all accidents that happen be-
tween wagon and a motor vehicle
are due to the motor drivers fault.
L don't in any way excuse a reck-
less driver, but when you see motor
vehicles at the intersection of Broad
way and Forty-second street, New
York, going twenty miles an hour
with no danger whatever, with the
thousands Of people in the streets
the Importance of the knowledge of
road rules is at once shown. These
rules are very simple.
1T is needless to say that automO-
biles meeting and passing should pass
to the right of each other and then
when overtaking and passing an au-
tOmObile or another vehicle, they
should pass to the left of the preced-
ing vehicle.
GA preceding vehicle should how
bile approaching from the rear to
pass. This rule has been sanctioned
by the Court OF Appeals of the State
of New York. All automobile drivers
should keep to The right of the CEN
tre of the highway aud never depart
from this rule unless emergency re-
quires it. If this rule is violated and
collision occurs, the autOmObilist
who was on the wrong side of the
road will be deemed responsible for
resulting injuries, unless he can show
that he was compelled to take the
other side of the highway for some
good cause"
In regard to frightened horses:
with big car, reducing it to low
gear will make five times the noise
that if wOuld mako If olIouod 20 ro
swiftly by the the high gear. Very
many horse drivers make mistake
In asking IN autOmobilist to stop al
though all autOmobilists should stop
and shut off the engine If necessary,
as is the law, but it really is a mis-
take on the drivers part, as his horse