Status Updates From Roads Were Not Built For Cars

In 1938 a motoring magazine complained about "the popular fallacy ... that the motor driver, being in control of what is sometimes termed a lethal weapon, is usually to blame when an accident occurs". Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose!

The motor-car was known as "le teuf-teuf" in turn of the century France - a piece of onomatopoeia instantly evocative of the Veteran Car Run!

My main issue with the book is Reid's understandable desire to use ALL his research, resulting in making the same point over and over again with different examples...

"In later years, cyclists demanded cycle paths as a form of protection from motor cars, and motorists were staunch supporters of cycle paths because this would remove cyclists from "motoring roads"; but in the 1890s, those pushing for separate cycle paths were doing so to provide cyclists with a superior running surface."

"... the lack of private property dumped on the streets overnight: all carriages were stored stored off-the-street. Cities were clogged with carriages during the day but, at night, there were no streets littered with parked motor cars. "

The book is full of fascinating little insights, like the idea that motor cars were seen as the cure for traffic congestion in the 1890s because they took up less road space than an equivalent horse-drawn vehicle plus team...

Disclaimer: I originally helped crowdfund this book back in 2014 :-)

Pages 55-56, on the different culture of continental vs British cities and their streets and roads because of different understanding of rights vs order.

Chat 3 told the typical history of roads from the days of mastodon and buffalo paths to freeways and motorways where motor vehicles tread down all opposition to their dominance. What is less known is the amount of pushback there was to this dominance in the early days of cars. E.g., a 1907 editorial in the Eastern Chronicle: “Drivers of horses are mostly on business, but the ‘devil wagons’ are used for fun.”

"In an 1897 article in the Christmas number of The Rambler, a weekly cycling magazine created by Daily Mail founder Alfred Harmsworth, a writer asked, "Why Not Cycle Paths Everywhere?""

Huh.