GIVE WAY TO ONCOMING FOXHOUNDS
Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2011 1:35 pm
A VERY HAPPY 80th BIRTHDAY TO THE HIGHWAY CODE.
By Stephen Leeves
April 14th 2011 will mark the 80th anniversary of the first publication of the Highway Code. Conceived as part of the Road Traffic Act of 1930 the original 21 page booklet evokes a much gentler era of driving than the statistics of the day actually reveal.
At the time there were only about 2 million motor vehicles on Britain’s roads but that didn’t stop the number of accident fatalities hitting 7,000 that year. There was no compulsory driving test at the time and although the 1930 Act did introduce one it was only for disabled drivers. It wasn’t until 1934 that driving tests for all were made compulsory.
Perhaps scarier still is that until this Act was passed insurance wasn’t compulsory either and although it set a variety of speed limits for different vehicle classes there was no speed limit set at all for vehicles carrying less than 7 people.
Parp Parp, Coming Through!
Look at a copy of the original code (cover price 1d) and it’s not difficult to imagine convoys of black Bullnose Morris’s, Austin 7’s and of course Jowett’s, picnic hampers strapped to the back, touring the leafy lanes of the countryside. One piece of guidance for instance advises motorists to be ready to stop when meeting a pack of hounds. Sound advice indeed but the same code also recommended blasting the horn when overtaking
Hand signals were the order of the day and for the current generation of drivers used to every conceivable electronic gadget one sentence beautifully highlights motoring’s subsequent technical advances; “Where the appropriate signal can be given effectively by a suitable mechanical or electrical device there is no objection to its use.”
About a third of the book is given up to diagrams of the standard hand signals used by policemen on traffic duty as well as drivers of all types of vehicle. It even includes two examples for drivers of horse drawn vehicles showing how to combine the hand and the whip to indicate stopping and turning.
Of course the history of the Highway Code pretty much charts the history of modern motoring and the authors of the original edition would have been blissfully unaware of the terrors of motorway driving.
The London end of the Great West Road, said to be Britain’s first stretch of dual carriageway, had only opened six years earlier and although not much more than a mile long, it was to great pomp and ceremony by King George V. It would be some years before guidance on the use of slip roads and filter lanes would be necessary.
Opportunity Knocks
Some things don’t change however and commercial enterprise was as quick then as it is today in spotting an advertising opportunity. Amongst the notices for “BP” Plus and Wakefield Castrol Motor Oil, both of the leading car clubs pitched against each other in the original edition of the Code. Offering much the same by way of services as they still do it’s not only the prices that eventually give the age away.
A full years membership of the RAC would set you back £2-2/- in 1931 unless your vehicle was under 1100cc in which case you got it for £1-1/-. Motorcyclists paid £1. And whilst the AA obviously felt it unnecessary to signal their rates their advertisement does hint back to a time when people weren’t in such a rush and life went on at a more relaxed pace.
With a total lack of any telephone details given, motorists were invited to apply for membership by sending a postcard to New Coventry Street, London W1.
By Stephen Leeves
April 14th 2011 will mark the 80th anniversary of the first publication of the Highway Code. Conceived as part of the Road Traffic Act of 1930 the original 21 page booklet evokes a much gentler era of driving than the statistics of the day actually reveal.
- hc1.png (138.83 KiB) Viewed 46 times
Perhaps scarier still is that until this Act was passed insurance wasn’t compulsory either and although it set a variety of speed limits for different vehicle classes there was no speed limit set at all for vehicles carrying less than 7 people.
Parp Parp, Coming Through!
Look at a copy of the original code (cover price 1d) and it’s not difficult to imagine convoys of black Bullnose Morris’s, Austin 7’s and of course Jowett’s, picnic hampers strapped to the back, touring the leafy lanes of the countryside. One piece of guidance for instance advises motorists to be ready to stop when meeting a pack of hounds. Sound advice indeed but the same code also recommended blasting the horn when overtaking
Hand signals were the order of the day and for the current generation of drivers used to every conceivable electronic gadget one sentence beautifully highlights motoring’s subsequent technical advances; “Where the appropriate signal can be given effectively by a suitable mechanical or electrical device there is no objection to its use.”
About a third of the book is given up to diagrams of the standard hand signals used by policemen on traffic duty as well as drivers of all types of vehicle. It even includes two examples for drivers of horse drawn vehicles showing how to combine the hand and the whip to indicate stopping and turning.
The London end of the Great West Road, said to be Britain’s first stretch of dual carriageway, had only opened six years earlier and although not much more than a mile long, it was to great pomp and ceremony by King George V. It would be some years before guidance on the use of slip roads and filter lanes would be necessary.
Opportunity Knocks
Some things don’t change however and commercial enterprise was as quick then as it is today in spotting an advertising opportunity. Amongst the notices for “BP” Plus and Wakefield Castrol Motor Oil, both of the leading car clubs pitched against each other in the original edition of the Code. Offering much the same by way of services as they still do it’s not only the prices that eventually give the age away.
A full years membership of the RAC would set you back £2-2/- in 1931 unless your vehicle was under 1100cc in which case you got it for £1-1/-. Motorcyclists paid £1. And whilst the AA obviously felt it unnecessary to signal their rates their advertisement does hint back to a time when people weren’t in such a rush and life went on at a more relaxed pace.
With a total lack of any telephone details given, motorists were invited to apply for membership by sending a postcard to New Coventry Street, London W1.