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As a result of this demand for more equitable transport, the National League of Good Roads was established in 1892. The group held a convention in Washington, D.C. a year later, and subsequently in 1893 the Office of Road Inquiry was established within the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This agency, with little funding to operate adequately given the task at hand, was responsible for collecting factual data on the nation’s highway system.
The Duryea consisted of one-cylinder gasoline engine, with electrical ignition. All Curved Dash models featured tiller steering and a seat side crank for starting.
By 1894 , the use of a tiller to steer a car became more and more ineffective. Taking inspiration from the same nautical industry, car builders began replacing the tillers with ship-inspired helms. Simpler and smaller than their nautical counterparts, the steering wheels in the car made their mark during the Paris-Rouen race, when the Panhard model driven by Alfred Vacheron was first recorded using a steering wheel to turn.
Car insurance policy was sold in 1898 by Traveler’s Insurance Co. to Dr. Truman Martin of Buffalo, N.Y., according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The policy gave Martin $5,000 in liability coverage. At the time, Martin would likely have been more concerned with crashing into one of the country’s 18 million horses, rather than another of the 4,000 cars in the U.S. Martin’s 1898 policy, which gave him coverage well below what most insurers would consider appropriate, cost $12.25.
The law essentially stated: "No motor vehicle shall run on any highway outside the limits of a city at a speed that exceed fifteen miles and hour, and no such vehicle shall, on any highway or public place within the limits of any city, be run at a speed to exceed twelve miles an hour." Law required the driver to slow down at crossings, intersections, and when "upon meeting a horse." There was also a fine associated for violating this law - specified as $200 or less for each violation.
The automobile trade magazine, Horseless Age, "endorsed the idea of government standards for motor vehicles as a way to keep unsafely-constructed automobiles off the market".
The first traffic code was adopted by New York City. Following this move were many local and state governments forming their own laws and regulations. Many "municipalities had their own ordinances regulating speeds, parking, the use of bells, horns and gongs, the making of unnecessary exhaust noise and the emission of noxious gas, smoke or steam, and they imposed fines for violations. These regulations varied widely from city to city and, especially in the smaller municipalities were often enforced in a discriminatory way".
The "New York Times reported that the National Grange had endorsed a proposal by the AAA for the enactment of a Federal Registration law to promote uniformity among state laws in dealing with "equipment, lights, brakes, horns, etc...as well as motor vehicle registration" (p.9).
In Michigan, Henry Ford begins produced the Model T automobile was released becoming the first low cost automobile to hit the market, giving everyday Americans opportunities in transportation, but also creating more opportunities for accidents and deaths.
The Model T by Ford less expensive, however, the crank system was dangerous, using it could break your arm due to the kick back. Holding it improperly could break your thumb.
Automobile fatalities outranked horse-drawn vehicle fatalities in the U.S. While European vehicles were being outfitted with four-wheel brake systems, U.S. manufacturers were still using the two-wheel, rear brake system. At this time, only 12 states required drivers to have a license to drive (not always requiring the potential driver to pass a test to receive said license).
Frederick D. Patterson he and his father owned- C.R. Patterson & Sons Company (1893-1939) The first Patterson-Greenfield car debuted in 1915 and was sold for $850. With a four-cylinder Continental engine, the car was comparable to the contemporary Ford Model T. - See more at: http://www.blackpast.org/aah/c-r-patterson-sons-company-1893-1939#sthash.juUfBvF7.dpuf
Cities worked to make improvements to pedestrian crossings with regulations related to the left turn. Innovations like the silent policeman and columns were installed to limit accidents. Speed traps were also utilized. However, speed traps were often operated by local police officers in rural communities "with fines going into the local treasury or the pockets of the police, justice, or magistrate."
Carl G. Fisher, a successful manufacturer of compressed carbide gas for motor vehicle headlights, proposed to a group of automobile manufacturers that they set up their own transcontinental highway.
"Cleveland installed the first alternating traffic lights, which were manually operated by a police officer stationed at the intersection. Yet these innovations did little to protect pedestrians." Drivers were continuously criticized and considered at fault. According to NHTSA & FHWA there were 4,468 Motor vehicle fatalities in 1914,
She developed a mechanical signaling arm that, with the press of a button, raised or lowered a flag on the car’s rear bumper that told other drivers which way a car was going to turn. After that, Lawrence devised a rudimentary brake signal that worked on the same principle: when a driver pressed the brakes, a “STOP” sign flipped up from the back bumper. These inventions were enormously important, obviously–today, every car on the road has electrical turn signals and brake lights–but because she never bothered to file patents for her work, Lawrence never got the recognition she deserved.
An article in the Scientific American covered the development of rear signals which alerted drivers behind the vehicle when it was braking or indicating a left or right turn. This item was being developed and tested by the New York Safety First Society.
The Federal Aid Road Act of 1916 was passed and signed into law which provided support for the creation of safe public roads in more rural locations that generally met the standards of the federal government. Also with the mission in mind to facilitate mail delivery.
By the end of the decade" there were over 27 million automobiles on the road" or one car for approximately every five people.
In 1920 that the first permanent traffic lights in New York went up, the gift of Dr. John A. Harriss, a millionaire physician fascinated by street conditions. His design was a homely wooden shed on a latticework of steel, from which a police officer changed signals, allowing one to two minutes for each direction.
The national highway system was only a dream. Anson Marston was the creator of the movement for a national, coordinated program of highway research. Marston issued a call for such a program. Marston's progressive vision and tireless efforts, created the National Advisory Board on Highway Research (later the Transportation Research Board) was established.
The use of lead gas in the 1920's
In the United States, construction began on the Lincoln Highway, the first full paved road to cross the United States that ran through thirteen states on it's course from New York City to San Francisco.
In Feb - the first commercial sales of leaded gasoline took place in Dayton, Ohio. (Kovarik 2011) In June - the "US public health service made aware of the leaded gasoline and started asking for safety tests". (Kovarik 2011) In Sept - workers started dying in the DuPont TEL works… “sickening deaths and illnesses of hundreds of TEL workers… Gripped by violent bursts of insanity, the afflicted would imagine they were being persecuted by butterflies and other winged insects before expiring, their bodies having turned black and blue.” (Kitman 2000a)
There were roughly 1800 American car brands between 1896 to 1930 but just a few were able to survive the tough competitive market. Hence just a handful of auto manufacturers opened after that period in America, that are still well known today. GENERAL MOTORS: CHEVROLET- 1911 – Present BUICK- Founded on 13 May, 1903. Still Present GMC- 1901-Present CADILLAC- Founded on 22 August, 1902, Michigan, U.S., Still Present.
Image: The Roaring Twenties,Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Co. History Copyright © 1997-2016 Pierce-Arrow Society. Retrieved from https://www.pierce-arrow.org/history/history4.php
Connecticut required drivers to demonstrate financial responsibility in the event of an auto accident resulting in injury, death, and property damage.
"Between 1928 and 1929, the easy access to cheap credit caused reckless speculation on stock markets and on assets in general. Prices gradually inflated to an unsustainable asset bubble. In the 30 months from March 1926 to September 1929 the Dow Jones rose 230% from 166 to 381. A correction had become inevitable, but turned into a severe crash due to calamitous government intervention". According to NHTSA &FHWA there were 31,204 Motor Vehicle Fatalities.
Automobile manufacturers often put "emphasis on driver responsibility" (xiii). It was doctors who became concerned about the number of accidents and deaths who suggested that cars may be more to blame than initially thought. Car manufacturers became concerned but continued to make cosmetic changes that appeared to show safety.
This article sparked a public outcry over automobile fatalities.
Professor Yandell Henderson of Yale University, an eminent physiologist presented his paper before the National Academy of Scientists.
The Governor of New York at the time started a program that forced installation of speed governors on cars of reckless drivers (those who were found to be guilty of reckless driving in court). He also proposed new speed limits
President Truman holds the first President's Highway Safety Conference. A conference to address the concern over accidents that skyrocketed after the end of WWII. The conference advocated for automobile manufacturers to come together to form a highway safety program at the local level. Reports by experts were also compiled and shared at the conference, stating that a safety program, called the Action Program, implemented properly at the local level could lead to major reductions in accidents and fatalities; if they failed to do this the federal government would step in.
American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators pushed for "improved head lighting equipment which would be uniform regardless of manufacturer" (9). This was in response to many earlier criticisms of the headlights equipped on cars resulting in too much of a glare at night when used. Around this time Nash Motors developed an intake and filter system to cut down on the issue of carbon monoxide that was first recognized in the 1920s.
Early Street Markings " Beginning in Chicago, traffic engineers coordinated street signals to keep motor vehicles moving smoothly, while making crossing times unfriendly to pedestrians".
In 1941, when the Pennsylvania Turnpike opened as one of the first limited-access divided highways that presaged the post-World War II interstate highway system, motorists discovered it lacked any speed limit at all.
The Congress passed the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1944 (58 Stat. 838) which “authorized construction of a system of multiple-lane, limited-access freeways, officially called the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, designed to connect 90 percent of all U.S. cities of 50,000 or more people”
Indiana State Police department was one of the 1st organizations to recognize the importance of detailed traffic fatality investigations in 1948. "Indiana State Trooper Corporal Elmer Paul is credited with being the "spark plug" to insist on researching traffic fatalities. Paul " grew concerned after his work as a trooper took him to deadly accident scenes" . "Paul's attendance at at lecture given by the staff of the Crash Injury Research project, which had been established by Cornell university"(p.10). "Paul's and Indiana's first fatal accident report was published in 1950. It was surprisiingly accurate in predicting that as many as 40% of the highway deaths could have been avoided with safer interior and by keeping the occupant from being ejected from the vehicle"(p.10) Source: Lemov,M.R.,(2015). Car Safety Wars: One Hundred Years of Technology, Politics, and Death. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press.Library of Congress Cataloging-in publication data.
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