The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-04-03
LEGIsLAT1vE BULLETIN.


 ton, addressed to it's members.
 The joint committee of the Senate and House on roads, bridges. and rivers has reported a bill revising the motor vehicle law of the state. This bill, which in some respects is a compromise, has been accepted by the directors of your association. as very reasonable, and a long step in the right direction
 There is no increase in the regis trati0n fee for pleasure vehicles. The tax on commercial vehicles has been expected. When the legislature of 1911 passed the present motor vehicle law the commercial motor truck was a negligible quantity. For this reason the tax was low. far below that of a pleasure vehicle. The in crease reported still leaves the com mercial. motor vehicle with a lower tax than the pleasure vehicle. This applies to commercial motor vehicles of. reasonabIe weight. Above five the purpose of discouraging the use of the ten and fifteen ton trucks which ruin our roads.
 A new feature is the section pro- viding that the secretary of state may hold hearings in the county in which an accident has occurred. Hereto fore, all motor vehicle hearings were held, at Hartford.4
 The new law will require a motor vehicle, upon approaching any street 1 car which has stopped to receive or discharge passengers, to scome to full stop not less than ten nor more than twenty-five feet from the rear of the trolley ear, and then proceed at, a. reasonable rate of speed.
 A very important amendmen in our behalf is to be found in the changes effected in section 16 of the present law. The change provides | that no city, town or borough may make any laws in regard to the uses speed or eq q6ipment of motor vehicles- This will end the present unjust 4regu-, l lations in regard to lights. passing street cars, etc, now in force in Hart l ford. EAfiddletown, Norwalk and sew eFal other cities of the state. At present, an automobihst complying with the ordinances of M1ddletown will be arrested in Hartford. This is labso1uteIy wrong and makes a crim- l inal of man who is doing. his best to obey the law As matter of jus tice the motor vehicle and it's equip= l ment should be regulated only by general state statute- This new law does not take away from any city, 1 town, or borough the present power to make traffic regulations which ap- i ply to all vehicles.
 Y our officers, directors and legal committee have worked hard to pro cure this favorable report. The final result is now up to you. If you will see your Representatives and your senator at once and urge upon them that this bill should pass without any 1 amendment whatsoever, and our oth- CT members do the same, there is no reason why this favorable report of the committee should not pass both the Senate and the House without the change of a comma If you do l not do your share and the bill fails f able amendments are added in the House and Senate, yoA must share the responsibility of the unfortunate 1 results
 A very determined. effort will be
 made by several representative to amend the committees report by in creasing our registration fee on pleas ure vehicles to a dollar horse power.
 The argument is advanced that the automobilists alone have demanded good roads, that they are the ones I who use the roads, and that they alone should, therefore, pay for thens Is there any truth in the contention? There is none. Since our highway l department was first instituted kin 1895, $1s.427, ,oOo haves been appro- l priated for highway work. $6, ,527s- I GOO of this, amount was appropriated l by legislatures between 1895 and | 1907 inclusive In 1907, there were
 
 I to be considered a factor. At that I time the automobilist was conside cred a pest, and the snrest way, to kill any appropriation was to let the leg fslatofs at Hartford believe an auto I mobi1iBt wanted it ated,, $4, ,o0O 900 have fbeen for trunk l line highways Thet remaining $9,- 1 427, 900 have gone for state and town l air roads and for small sections of I for the benefit of the automobiles l but entirely for the benefit of the l rural inhabitants of the state. n
 Up to January first this year the I automobi1ists had contributed to the state in fees the very respectable sum practically all of this in the last five i years If the revised bill reported by | the roads, bridges and rivers com
 nittee becomes a law the automobile revenue direct to the state during this I next year will be over $56O,OO0.
 Including the $1.5O6, 945. 65= already I paid and allowing for no increase in l revenue for motor vehicles, the auto l n0biists under the present tax, will have paid back to the state, at the I end of five years more, every cent ex- I pended for trunk1ine roads The ] state did not pay this money out of I the treasury, but Borrowed it on long ! term bopdss which will be running for 1 fifteen years after the. automobilists :. have paid back the s4,ooO,0OO ex- I pended on trunkline highways. Al
 lowing no increase in motor vehicles 1 or in the rate of taxation, the auto- 1 mobi1ists will have paid back to the state, when these bonds mature, the
 four million dollars expended for
 trunkHne highways and eight mill al lion dollars in additIon. The Con-
 hecticut autom obiIist is already pay
 ing the highest tax of any automobil-
 ist in the United States. ls
 With any reasonable system of fl
 nancing, the automobilistt under ou1
 present heavy tax, will pay for the
 construction and maintenance of al
 our trunkHne roads. In addition tC
 these taxes, now paid for registration
 we are also paying a high tax on oul
 automobiles as personal property. Al