The Locomotives on Highways Act 1896 ( 59 & 60 Vict. c. 36) removed the strict rules and UK speed limits that were included in the earlier Locomotive Acts which had greatly restricted the adoption of motorised vehicles in the United Kingdom. It came into operation on 14 November 1896.

Background

The powerful

railways Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to roa ...

lobby and those with interests in transport using

horse-drawn vehicle A horse-drawn vehicle is a piece of equipment pulled by one or more horses. These vehicles typically have two or four wheels and were used to carry passengers or a load. They were once common worldwide, but they have mostly been replaced by auto ...

s advocated the original Locomotive Acts which imposed very low

speed limits Speed limits on road traffic, as used in most countries, set the legal maximum speed at which vehicles may travel on a given stretch of road. Speed limits are generally indicated on a traffic sign reflecting the maximum permitted speed, express ...

and other restrictions on the use of "locomotives" and motorcars on the UK public highways. Motor car enthusiasts strongly urged the removal of these restrictions on motorcars. The Mayor of

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells (formerly, until 1909, and still commonly Tunbridge Wells) is a town in Kent, England, southeast of Central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone ...

, Sir David Salomons, organized the first automobile exhibition to be held on 15 October 1895 in his local agricultural society's showgrounds. On the day the ground was too soft so he led the vehicles out onto the road from the showground to the town. "Not one of the horses so much as lifted an eye as the horseless carriages sped somewhat noisily by". The enthusiasts included London company-promoter turned motor-industry promoter H. J. Lawson, who in July 1895 successfully floated his British Motor Syndicate Ltd and in 1896 formed the Daimler Motor Company Ltd to buy F. J. Simms' Syndicate. F. J. Simms had already formed his Self Propelled Traffic Association in 1895, then followed it in 1897 with a motorist's club now known as the

Royal Automobile Club The Royal Automobile Club is a British private Club (organization)#Country or sports club, social and athletic club. It has two clubhouses: one in London at 89 Pall Mall, London, Pall Mall, and the other in the countryside at Woodcote Park, ne ...

(RAC).

Henry Sturmey John James Henry Sturmey (1857–1930), known as Henry Sturmey, is best remembered as the inventor with James Archer of the Sturmey-Archer three-speed hub for bicycles, but he was a technical editor and journalist heavily involved as a pioneer o ...

of publishers Iliffe & Sturmey edited it himself, and also started '' The Autocar'' in November 1895 to tell of the burgeoning motor industry in France, attract the support of the public and publicize their promotion events.Lord Montagu and David Burgess-Wise (1995). ''Daimler Century'' Stephens. The day before the flotation of the Daimler Motor Company Ltd and Lawson's promotional gathering of almost 1,700 people on 15 February 1896, the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII, was driven about the location, the Imperial Institute, by Simms' friend, Evelyn Ellis, in the Daimler-engined

Panhard Panhard was a French motor vehicle manufacturer that began as one of the first makers of automobiles. It was a manufacturer of light tactical and military vehicles. Its final incarnation, now owned by Renault Trucks#Military vehicles, Re ...

& Levassor which Ellis and Simms had brought in from France and used in July 1895 for Britain's first long-distance motorcar journey – Southampton to Datchet and on to Malvern without police intervention. The Prince said "Evelyn, don't drive so fast, I am frightened!" as too were the bystanders, but he was impressed and later agreed to become patron of Britain's first motor show. "Ellis subsequently ran the car in many parts of England doing what he could to induce the authorities to take proceedings against him ... but the authorities did not accept his challenge". By 1895 some drivers of early lightweight steam-powered autocars thought that these would be legally classed as a ''horseless carriage'' and would therefore be exempt from the need for a preceding pedestrian. John Henry Knight brought a

test case In software engineering, a test case is a specification of the inputs, execution conditions, testing procedure, and expected results that define a single test to be executed to achieve a particular software testing objective, such as to exercise ...

to court in 1895. On 17 October 1895 Knight's assistant, James Pullinger, was stopped in Castle Street,

Farnham Farnham is a market town and civil parish in Surrey, England, around southwest of London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, close to the county border with Hampshire. The town is on the north branch of the River Wey, a tributary of the ...

, by the Superintendent of Police and a crowd had gathered by the time Knight arrived. The superintendent asked whether it was a steam engine, Knight replied that it was not and thus admitted liability. He and Pullinger were charged with using a locomotive without a licence. The case was heard at Farnham court of

petty session Courts of petty session, established from around the 1730s, were local courts consisting of magistrates, held for each petty sessional division (usually based on the county divisions known as hundreds) in England, Wales, and Ireland. The session ...

s in Farnham Town Hall on 31 October 1895. Knight and Pullinger were both fined half a crown, 2s 6d (or possibly 5 shillings"History of Farnham"
''Wey River''. ) plus 10 shillings costs (or possibly 12s 6d)."The First Motor Offender"
''British Local History''. Parliament first debated the Locomotives on the Highway Bill in 1895 but the bill lapsed when Gladstone's minority Liberal government fell that year. Following the 1895 general election a new parliament, formed by the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

and Liberal Unionist parties, debated the proposal again, and the act was passed, taking effect on 14 November 1896. During the debate for the bill, various speeds between were discussed with reference to the speed of a horse and what would be deemed to be 'furious driving' in relation to a horse.

Clauses

This Act defined a new category of vehicle, ''light locomotives'', which were vehicles under 3

ton Ton is any of several units of measure of mass, volume or force. It has a long history and has acquired several meanings and uses. As a unit of mass, ''ton'' can mean: * the '' long ton'', which is * the ''tonne'', also called the ''metric ...

s unladen weight. These 'light locomotives' were exempt from the three crew member rule, and were subject to the higher

speed limit Speed limits on road traffic, as used in most countries, set the legal maximum speed at which vehicles may travel on a given stretch of road. Speed limits are generally indicated on a traffic sign reflecting the maximum permitted speed, express ...

although most local authorities had the authority to reduce it to .

Subsequently

In celebration of the act being passed Lawson organised an ''Emancipation Run'', which took place on 14 November 1896 when thirty vehicles travelled from London to Brighton. Annual commemoration of that emancipation day drive became famous and is known as the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run. The relaxation of usage restrictions eased the way for the development of the

British motor industry British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

. The speed limit was raised to by the

Motor Car Act 1903 The Motor Car Act 1903 ( 3 Edw. 7. c. 36) was an Act of the United Kingdom Parliament that received royal assent on 14 August 1903, which introduced motor vehicle registration, driver licensing and increased the speed limit. Context The act fo ...

. Both the Locomotives on Highways Act 1896 and the Motor Car Act 1903 were repealed by the Road Traffic Act 1930.

Notes

References

External links