Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-02-22

motor vehicle laws in harmony
with that contemplated by the
uniform motor vehicle registration
act (act of the uniform vehicle
code). The other nearby States,
the CarolinaS, Ohio and West Vir-
GINA, like most of the rest Of the
country, deal with registration
largely as a tax licensing matter
and do not have as effective SyS-
TENS of administration of the
motor vehicle laws as prevail in
the North Atlantic States.
One important change recently
included in act I of the code is in
section 20, which, as now revised,
accordS complete reciprocity to
commercial vehicles as we'll as
passenger cars, subject, however,
to a provision requiring, in effect,
that commercial vehicle must be
registered in the State where 1t
principally operates.
| Certificate of title or anti-theft
laws closely paralleling the uni
form motor vehicle anti-theft act
(act II Of the uniform vehicle
code) are in effect in PennSyl-
vania, Delaware, Maryland, Vir-
ginia and North Carolina. The
District of Columbia has no such
law, and, as consequence, regis
tration is so easy that the Situa-
ton has become notorious. South
Carolina had a certificate of title
law, but it was so defective and SO
inadequate In operation as to be
Of little value. For the country
as a whole about half the States
have certificate of title laws.
Effective in New England.
Drivers license laws in harmony
with the uniform motor vehicle
operators and chauffeurs' license
act (act III of the uniform vehicle
code) are in effect in all of the
New England States except Maine,
and in the Middle Atlantic States
from New York to Maryland and
the District of Columbia, inclusive.
These States have shown average
savings of Is to 30 per cent in
automobile fatalities, following the
adoption of the license law, as
compared with the rates of in
crease in fatalities in the rest of
the country and their own previ-
Gus records. In Maryland, which
shows a somewhat less favorable
record than the average of the
licensing States, the license law is
generally in harmony with that
of the code, but does not provide
| for periodic renewal of licenses,
which the code authorizes to be
done in the discretion of the State
motor vehicle department not
oftener than once in three years
except in States using the licenS-
ing system for revenue purposes
and requiring annual renewal
Virginia, the CarolinaS, Ohio or
West Virginia, or the other States
to the West and South Except
California and AriZona), while in
some instances licensing chauf-
feurs, do not as yet have license
laws covering all operators and
providing for examination Of all
new operators. A few States, such
as Michigan, Wisconsin and Ore
gon, have license laws without
mandatory examination, but these
States show little, If any, better
records than those of the non
licensing States. Recent informa-
ton shows that the Legislatures
of at least IS States now without
the drivers license law including
mandatory examination will &C
tiyely consider such legislation at
their next sessions.
In regard to the rules of the
road, motor vehicle equipment re-
quirementS and other regulations
governing vehicle operation, Penn
sylvania in 1927, and Delaware in
1929, did away with their old
motor vehicle laws and substituted
practically the exact terms of all
four acts of the Uniform Vehicle
Code including act w uniform
Act Regulating Traffic on High
ways. Virginia in 1925 adopted
a law based on the preliminary
draft of that act. North Caro-
lima in 1927 adopted practically
the complete acts I, II and w of
the code. Maryland and the Dis
trict Of Columbia have made some
changes in their rules of the road
and other vehicle operation re-
quirements bringing them into
closer conformity with the Uniform
Code, but they still differ from
act ~ Of the code in a number Of
important respects. The Mar
land law, particularly, is incom-
plete and much different in form
and more difficult to understand
than the Uniform Code.
Notifications Adopted.
For States which have already
adopted act w of the code 1t
should be noted that the National
Conference On Street and High
way Safety in May, 1880, adopted
certain notifications of that act
including ID incorporation in the
code of numerous provisions previ-
ously carried in the Model Munich
pal Traffic Ordinance as has been
done by State law in New York,
New Jersey and Wisconsin; (2)
revision of the speed regulations
to place greater responsibility
upon the driver, 80 improvement
of the right-of rule at inter
sections and the provisions re-
garding passing to conform to the
best modern practice, and a.
reccdification to give a better
order of presentation in harmony
with the Model Municipal Traffic
Ordinance.
The Model Ordinance, which
supplements the Uniform Vehicle
Code to meet the requirements of
cities and towns, has been widely
adopted in different parts of the
country, but not by any of the
communities in this immediate
territory.
The same may be said of the
Manual on Street Traffic Signs,