Road rules in the 1960

[vekara]

Interesting...Older drivers may remember these rules from 1960 in ACT:

"in making a right hand turn, a motorist may approach the intersection
or junction as at present, but, in addition, he may approach in any lane
marked as a RIGHT HAND TURN lane. The present requirement that
he should drive his vehicle parallel with the left side of the carriageway
he is leaving until he is as near as practicable to the far side of the
carriageway he is entering is being omitted. He must keep to the left of
a traffic dome, follow any road marking, and not cross an unbroken
line, but in the absence of any road markings he is free to follow any
course subject to the general requirement that when he has entered the
other carriageway he shall keep as near as practicable to the left hand
side of it. "
Note the word "HE", women drivers apparently did not exist or did not have to follow these rules. Does this mean that when you turn right you have to start the turning from the left side of the road you are travelling on?

"Under the existing law a person convicted of reckless or dangerous driving, or
of driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor is automatically disqualified from
driving and his licence is restored only after a subsequent application to the Court"

It seems driving under the influence your licence was cancelled automatically. I wonder what was the method of determining if a person was under the influence...

[Wraith]

Interesting...

I'm an old bugger but not old enough to remember or know of that above :p LOL

[Bloodnok]

Note the word "HE", women drivers apparently did not exist or did not have to follow these rules.

At that era, 'he' can be read as gender neutral, at least from the legal perspective. Political Correctness had not yet reared it's head.


Does this mean that when you turn right you have to start the turning from the left side of the road you are travelling on?

No, it means you don't move further to the right before you turn. Remember, the previous rule would have been written before marked lanes were used - even a centre dividing line. It's effect is to stop people crossing in to opposing traffic before turning. Obviously the ACT was in the process of introducing marked turning lanes, and the rule needed modification to allow them to be legally used, but it still had plenty of places where there were no marked lanes.

[Bloodnok]

I'm an old bugger but not old enough to remember or know of that above :p LOL

I'm nowhere near old enough to remember first hand ... but my dad is fascinated by the evolution of road rules, and I've picked up a bit through osmosis :-)

[vekara]

I grew up in north europe and remember my dad getting "slick" tyres from professional delivery drivers when they were worn out. he bragged that they will last for years after the tread had worn out. mind you, half the year was driven in snow, just guess how slippery they were. There was no laws regarding tyre tread depth. also as far as i can remember, there were no speed limits outside cities but the cars would not typically go faster than 120 anyway. Many main roads in the late 1950 were still dirt roads, no line markings.

Someone here in Aus told me that in the olden days if you could sit straight behind the wheel and not fall off when the door was opened, you were good to drive. If not, you were done for DUI.