The French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1896-1912, 1911-07-27
STRENUOUS PROTEST AGAINST
SPEEDING OF AUTOMOBILES
Fast driving Of Automobiles and narrow
ness of so1p9 roads brings an objection
from a yearly visitor who has had seve-
raj thrilling. escapes.

! This, of course, was the grand eli
max, / sold the horse, one Of the fin
i est I have aver owner, for half price
and drove the old farm horse the res
of the Summer, and considered my.
self most fortunate that no member O.
my household had been killed or sew.
erely injured during the events.
, This season / began again, and sent
to my Summer home another fine
driving horse, one that had been test
ed all winter in the city as to automo-
biles, and considered perfectly safe
to drive anywhere. All went well for
a time, but a few days ago, my wife
and two children were driving to
Kanuga on the cross road from Flat
Rock, a road which is very narrow and
has many sharp curves. They had
no thought of danger for the horse
had paid no more attention to automo-
biles than to any other vehicle, sud-
denly around a curve, right upon
them came a big touring car at a
point in the road where there was no
possibility of turning out for it, and
the machine ran UP to within six feet
of the horses head before it could be
stopped. The animal, like any human
being under similar circumstances,
thinking he was to be run over, Jump
ed out of the road, then whirled about
among the trees, back into the road
again and ran full speed for a mile
down a rough mountain road, the two
children holding their mother in the
buggy by their united strength while
she guided the runaway horse
! around the dangerous curves of the
Dad until finally the horse was I'M
ar control again.
Now, it is almost a miracle that my
amily have escaped with their lives
Turing these experiences and / feel
'stly entitled to enter a most vigor-
US protest against conditions which
v became a grave danger in a for
nerly safe and enjoyable country.
The first experience described was
:aused purely by thoughtlessnsss of
| driver who should have reserved
his excessive disturbances until he had
,assed by a spirited horse
The next was a wilful, criminal neg
ect of the laws of the state, and l
ave a cas in the courts against the
nan who committed the crime and
~uined my horse, and which 1 expect
n push in the interests of the COM
munity.
The third case was simply the re-
suit of the second. The automobilist
was strictly within his rights, but the
N.cTse could not forget former exper-
'nnces. The fourth and last was not
the fault of the horse, for he was
H"rorghly trained. It was not the
ault of the automobilist, for he was
~unning at moderate speed and sound
sTs his horn. 1t was simply the con-
7ition Of the road on which both par-
ties were travelling and which was too
narrow to allow a possibility of pas
Tipg. a condition which is strictly up
TO the road authorities of Henderson
county to remedy if they expect to
hold their trade as a Summer resort
fO~ both automobile and horse own
ers.
The automobile has come to stay.
Under proper conditions. it is a reas-
0nably safe and enjoyable vehicle, but
"1der other conditions it is a grave
! danger to it's owner, as wit1azsed by
! the tragedy on the Asheville road a
Few days ago, and a terror to the nuh-
&c. as proved by the experiences just
elated.
49, WIN 4NAO0 vi III Dull
Y certainly want the Summer ratron-
&c of all classes of visitors, the au-
mobile and the horse owner incIud-
al. If they exDect them beth to con-
tinue in the same country it certain
ly becomes their bounden duty to rem
Ter conditions reasonably safe for all
7art1es. This can be done in the first
lace by strictly enforcing the law as
D speed and the sounding of warm
7gs on curves on the roads which are
Gsonably safe for travel.
Eut, on many of the roads of this
Ttv there can be no safety until
lEhe roads are widened so that an au-
tomobile and a horse can pass with
out the automobile going over an en-
5ankment or the horse climbing a
tree, and it is to this fact that 1 would
especially urge the attention of the
road officials of the county.
Under present conditions there are
many roads in the county over which
The use of automobiles should be alb
7olutely prohibited until they are wild
med, for in many places it is an i'm
disability to pass a machine in the
cad, and, while the automobilists
opld be held strictly and legally to
>"ornt for accidents carsed by core
~3eH" or criminal violation of the
laws of the road, it seems to me-that
in case of accidents where the ma
chimes are operated strictly within
their rights, that the county should
be held both morally and legally re-
s2onsible for accidents caused pure.
Y by the condition of their roads.
anv roads in this county, then,
should either be very materially wild
\ ened or should certainly be posted
prohibiting their use by automobiles,
fHr there are going to be other TRACE
dies in Henderson County unless this
IS done.
Yours very truly,
F. C. ABBOTT.
"sunnyside," Flat Rock, NC, July 20.
1911
Mr.. ]. G. Kelly of Charlotte is here