Digest of Motor Vehicle Law books

[Frantz]

I came across a small selection of books published by AAA. Mine are from 1958 through 1962 and the 1962 book even has a letter in it from the local AAA club to the Chief of Police explaining the gift of the book to help them perform their duties as an officer. They books go state by state and include a paragraph summary on vehicle registration, drivers license, proof of ownership, taxes, traffic rules, accident reports, liability law, inspection, and the HQ of that states highway patrol. Sorta neat.

In Pennsylvania 1958 the age to get a license was 18, with junior permits issued at 16. Closer to what we have, however, "way back" in the 1990s I was able to get my license at 16, so they certainly changed it up and down over the years.
We had no property tax, only a 3% sales tax and only $0.05 cent fuel tax!!! (we have property tax now, 6% sales, and $0.58 gas tax per gal)
50 mph speed limit on highway unless posted up to 60 mph
They did allow for turn signals lights in lieu of hand signals

Coasting in neutral was prohibited!
And we had two inspections a year (people still talk about this so I actually knew that one)

Also with the collection came a few Pennsylvania state published motor vehicle code books and amendment books from the same period. Sorta neat.
 

[John_S_in_Penna]

Doug, thanks for sharing those facts.

It would be interesting to see what those same

statistics were like in, say, 1910 and 1920!

 

I have an Instruction Book for my oldest car, from 1916.

It lists the state speed limits in use at the time.

In Penna., the state speed limit was 12 m.p.h. in town

and 24 m.p.h. on open roads.  Some states had no

speed limits.  In Alabama, zipping along at 30 m.p.h.

for 1/4 mile was considered evidence of excessive speed.

 

Elsewhere, I've glimpsed registration fees for cars.

They were extraordinarily HIGH (adjusted for inflation),

compared to today. And the bigger or more powerful the car,

the more one paid; for those, fees were extraordinarily high, 

the equivalent of several hundred dollars a year in today's money.

 

[28 Chrysler]

My father talked about anyone paying 25¢ could get a drivers license if you could reach over the counter. The speed limits were for in town only.

In the 1920s South Dakota had fewer people but more small towns than now. 

[Willie Wurke]

I wonder if my dad obeyed the speed limit when he was 17 years old and had this car with BIG wheels and 2 wheel brakes.

Edited December 20, 2017 by Willie Wurke (see edit history)