The public menace of automobiles
“Something will have to be done to protect the public...”
“The automobile is resulting in more deaths and accidents than old John Barleycorn was ever accused of, and not nearly so many people bend elbows over a steering wheel as used to lift the drink. Who will start a movement to have an amendment to the constitution abolishing motor vehicles?” — Durham Morning Herald (1920)
In a libertarian paradise for automobile owners (1900–30), Walter Ney (“Frank”) Keener spoke frankly on the editorial page of the Durham Morning Herald about the emerging “public menace”…
“It is the exception rather than the rule for the driver to sound a horn upon approaching a curve, and the roads are in many places apparently lead out from a survey made by a drunken blacksnake. Over the hills, around the curves, the drivers dash, and nothing but mere good luck protects them.” — Durham Morning Herald (August 8, 1920)
Something had to be done…
“We wish Henry Ford was a fresh meat dealer in Durham.” — Durham Morning Herald (October 2, 1920)
“Every time an automobile driver takes a chance in violating the city and state traffic laws, he flirts with death.” — Durham Morning Herald (Nov. 30, 1920)
On September 21, 1922 the Herald came out in support of a bill making its way through the North Carolina General Assembly to require licenses for automobile drivers: “No person should be permitted to operate an automobile who has not demonstrated ability to handle the car, and that person should be none than a sober one. Careless driving or driving while intoxicated should cause a revocation of license. Massachusetts has the licensing system, and it is working nicely.”
“It is constituting one of the greatest menaces there is to life in this day and time.” — Durham Morning Herald (August 13, 1922) *
And in 1922, Walter reported (favorably) on a Detroit judge who had “made a study of violations of automobile laws” and “reached the conclusion that many speeders are mentally defective” and recommended mental exams.
Sadly, deaths from auto accidents per million people today is about the same as it was in 1920. However, deaths per billion miles traveled is way down…
So we’ve clearly made some progress (training, licensing, seat belts, air bags, etc.), but 35,000 people still die each year on our highways. Fully autonomous vehicles might help reduce this number further in the future, but the technology just isn’t there yet. So be careful out there and obey the rules of the road.
Footnote: On August 13, 1922, the “Dixie Editor” also opined about the problem of mail-order pistols in North Carolina and the need for more drastic state control of this public menace: “[T]he state can have more drastic legislation for dealing with the owners of pistols. That is the only way to handle the situation until congress passes a general law controlling the sale of deadly weapons.” So it goes.
