Traffic Laws

It may surprise many people to learn that Julius Caesar created and enforced an early traffic law in Rome. Caesar was concerned about congested roads within the city, especially during the busiest parts of the day, and he literally banned wheeled vehicles from the roads during certain hours. This move may have been the first time anyone considered methods for alleviating a traffic jam.

It was thousands of years before, however, as the best paths between settlements became wider and more defined, that the concept of roads began to take shape. Men began to make the roads more discernable on the landscape by keeping them free of weeds and brush, and sometimes roadways were even covered with small rocks. The earliest known evidence of such a constructed road was found at Ur, a Sumerian city in what is known today as Iraq.

Dangerous Roadways

The invention of the bicycle was a major cause of change on the roads in the 19th century. Bicyclists wanted the roads to be smoother and more level so that they could travel along them at higher rates of speed. At the same time, those who were still riding horses or wagons did not like how fast bicyclists were going, especially when there were collisions that resulted in damage to the larger vehicles and injury to horses.

Around the beginning of the 20th century, when wagons became horseless carriages powered by steam, internal combustion engines, and electric motors, life on the roads became much more dangerous. There were more vehicles of all kinds moving along the streets, and they were heavier and faster than ever. As a result, the first comprehensive body of traffic laws began to appear on the books. Unfortunately, there was no uniformity in the regulations. Municipalities could enact any traffic law they liked, including some very silly ones that are still on the books.

Early Traffic Laws and Confusion

Imagine motorists, cyclists, and wagon drivers dutifully obeying the new traffic safety laws in one town, only to be fined for following the same guidelines in the next town! On top of that, the same signal could mean something different in the next town with a red light meaning it was okay to go and a green one meaning you had to stop. There was confusion everywhere, and safety fell by the wayside.

The same traffic collisions that plagued Julius Caesar in Rome began to be a huge problem in cities and towns in the United States and other countries with motorized transportation. As readers may have already guessed, the biggest issue was usually who had the right-of-way at intersections. As the number of car crashes, injuries, and fatalities began to grow, the safety issue came to the forefront again.

The Need for Uniform Traffic Laws

It was painfully obvious that drivers were not able to make the best decisions at intersections and that, across entire counties or states, uniform traffic laws would have to be enacted. Once this trend began to take hold, drivers could drive much longer distances following the same rules and regulations on the road. Today most countries have relatively consistent traffic laws within their borders. Travelers can even motor across international borders and know most of the rules.

Today's traffic laws are geared toward safety more than ever before. Seat belt regulations are common, as are safer brakes, annual safety inspections, and cars with dozens of safety features built into them at the factory. Most drivers are so used to traffic laws that they never consider the fact that a simple solid yellow line painted on a roadway keeps them safe almost all the time because every driver knows that the line represents a traffic law.