Evening star., 1937-10-24
Rome Traffic Problem
Stumped Even Caesar
Districts Packed Streets Old
Story-Women Began
1t All With ChariOts.

be lawful for any person to make stop
of s'dch horse or rider till the sayd
fire bee paid as aforesaid"
The first vehicle weight law seemed
to have been brain child of Napoleon
Bonaparte, for on May 19, 1902, he
proclaimed law which fixed prece-
dent now being followed in connection
with commercial vehicles. 1t specified
that wagons used for traction and
commerce" be limited to four and one
half tons if they had four wheels, and
two and one-half tons If only two
wheels. Physics being the unchanging
science it is, it was recognized even
in that distant day that the more
points over which load was spread
the less damage the vehicle would do
to the highway. Commercial vehicles
of today may have six or eight wheels
but the principle set forth by the
Little Corporal still governs them.
BY 1929 the seemingly ultra modern
problem, the overloaded commercial
vehicle, had risen to vex and almost
vanquish the King of the Netherlands.
But the King was not going to have
his subjects roads ruined just to
accommodate the selflshness of COM
mercial trucker. So he ordered his
officers to check the weight Of stage
coaches and draught vehicles once a
month and if any were found over
weight, the owner might go on jail
ration if he couldn't pay his fine.
Modern traffic regulation, applying
to public whose 'mischiefs" have
been motorized, began in New York in
1900. In two years preceding. the
number of "benzine buggies" had in
creased tenfold, from 800 to 8,00C, and.
as today, they all seemed to want to
be in the same area at the same time.
In astonishing contrast with the
assurance of the traffic cop OF today,
New York police officers at the turn Of
the century were doubtful about the
extent of their authority. BY diligent
search of the city charter, however,
they found a provision that not only
gave them the privilege of regulating
traffic, but ordered them to take COM
mand.
The first step was to determine
what constitutes vehicular traffic.
Baby carriages and trolleys were
Jumped together in exemption, while
everything else on the roadway, even
saddle horses. was claSsed as we
hicular." Aside from this, however,
the pioneer traffic code sounds quite
modern even now. 81 years later.
1t required only about 500 words
to tell the early automobile owners Of
the metropolis just what was au fait.
The code was in five sections and the
very first related to the Importance
of not being road hog: in other
words, keep to the right. The second
section, on signals, told the driver he
could use either the whip or the hand
for signaling. because as hangover
from horse and buggy days many of
the pioneer cars absent-mindedly were
equipped with whip sockets!
The codes right -of-way rule was
another carry-over from carriage days.
1t gave precedence at intersections to
the vehicle on the right and specified
that slow traffic was to keep to the
right that it might not interfere with
faster overtaking vehicles. The speed
limit was fixed at 10 miles an hour
and the "scorcher" usually gave him.
self away by the noisy progress he
made when his pace went above the
legal maximum.
Pedestrians play an important role
in the traffic picture and their rights,
which motorists must respect, are
rooted in England. In that country,
on highways used both by animal
drawn vehicles and citizens afoot,
there f1owered the judicial ruling that
because pedestrians are the weaker
element in traffic they are entitled
to the protection and solicitude of
other elements. That is the common
law on the pedestrian subject and it
has been but slightly modified by
statutory amendment, as courts are
constantly pointing out to drivers
careless of pedestrians lives and
limbs.
1t is apparent from perusal of his
tory's big pages that if there are things
under the sun which are new, traffic
regulation is not to be included
among them. 1t probably all started