February 14, 1930 WILMETTE LIFE ·19 NO·R TH · SHORE MOTOR NEW'S ·} have also been introduced and are r:ow before various committees. The majority relate to special financial assi!ltance jn constr.ucting highways in Western states ·which have a high percentage of ·public land within their domain and are therefore deprived of tax revenues on same. Other bills, for special aid, relate to Forest roads and trails-the various "special aid" highway measures aggregating $37,500,000. Another class of legislation, whkh will rebound to the autoist is the socalled re!!ulatorv bills for Federal licensing of motor bus traffic. Regulation of busses, requiring financial responsibility, proper maintenance, etc., will mean safer highways. Three such measures are now pending. ' .s~ction, some skillful bluffing somettmes takes place. Frequent!?'·· the bolder of the two secures the rtght of way. Shoul.d a collision occur, how~ver, courts 111 those st~te ~here th.e nghtof-way law. prevails wtll. rule m favor of the vehtcle approachmg from the right, and against the car owner on the left, according to the law department of the Chicago Motor club, which declared that the courts hold the right hand right-of-way rule in high regard. Illinois, Indiana and \Visconsin, with many other states, have incorporated this right-of-way regulation in their ~s $64,172.73. motor · vehicle laws. The regtllation :\f uch of the increase is a direct re- provides, in substance, that motor vesuit oi the passage by. the l~st Gen- . hides traveling upon public highways eral Assembly of a bitl designed to shall give the right-of-\\'ay to vehicles <:ompel truck owner.s to P~Y the proper approaching along intersecting highltc ense fees for their vehicles. ways from the right and s h a 11 'rhe new truck plates carry a l~ttc::r have the right-of-way over those aphetore the numer~ls. T.he letter mdt- roaching from the left. This r egulacates. th~ class 111 whtch the truck tion does not apply, however. where carrymg .tt fall s.. I~ a truck ?wner has ma in highways and secondary highappherl lor a I_Hintmum we.tght tryck ways intersect, nor at the intersections plate and us~s It. on a. heavier vehicle, of Through streets and ordinary a~1 automob.Ile mvestigator o~ state thoroughfares. The Stop signs or htghw~y policeman can determme the other regulation s in force at those dc~eption at a glance and arrest the points shall indicate the right-of-way. drn·er. '\ f · Secret~ry of State Stratton estimates " . 5 an examp 1 e 0 · t1 le .manner 111 ,, . ' · tate road fut d WI.ll be I·ncreased whtch the <;ourts decide nght-of-way til 1 -- ·· 1 1 by apprJximately $250,000 a year by c~ses, the motor c ub aw .d~partment making truck owners pay proper li- ctt.ed .excerpts from the ~eciston of the ce 11 se fees. This increase, like all f~es Illinois Appellate court In the ~ase of co llected from the sale of automobile John so n vs. Duke. A large tounng car license plates, goes into the state he!ng driven east, ac.cording . to the treasury for the construction of hard evidence, cam~ to an mt ersectwn and roads. collided with the left side of a truck The sale and distribution of approx- being driven north. Part of the deimately 1,500,000 auto license plates cision follows: each year is an immense job and to "Under the circumstances appellee further facilitate the handling of them (the truck owner) had the right-ofand to protect automobile owners, the way. While this right would not resecretary of state has decreed that no Iieve him from the duty of exercising more plates shall be sold over the due care, he was entitled to assume counter at his office in the capitol that persons approaching on his left building. would observe the law and r espect his All applications, under the state hw, right." must be sworn to before a notary public and this gives added protect.:on ag-ainst auto thieves. Press Button in Car- Bring ·Truck · Owners Right-of-Way Law Is Held Congress Ponders to Time-Net Result: In Lofty Regard by Courts Bills Designed to · J f R d When two motorists, driving at right . He / p the M otortst More Fun s or oa s angies w each other, meet at an inter- All records of the automobile department of Secretary of State William J. Stratton's office were broken when over 141,224 new automo~ile license plates v:cre sold between Nov em her 15 and December 31, it was announced thi week. This number compares with 130,380 sold in the same period last year, an increase of 11,674. . The sale of 1930 plates up to Decemher 31 netted a total of $1,839,888.13 for the comtruction of hard roads in the state. This compares with $1,775,715.40 - the coliection for the same period a \·ear ago. The amount of the increase The problems of the mi11ions of autoists of the United States are at last being given serious consideration by Congress. Proof of this fact, it is . pointed out by the American Motorists association, in cooperation with the Automobile Club of Illinois is evidenced by a score or more of hilts introduced in the present Congress. The prime purpose of each measure is to help the automobile owner solve his traffic and other autoing problems. "An analysis of the bills, thrown into the legislative hopper of the present Congress, show that a total of $3,000,000,000 for Federal Highways and Rural Post roads is being sought by One. in Every Four ave the various measures," Si Mayer, pr~siIt-You're Right, a Car dent of The Automobile Club of IUinois and vice-president of the A. !\f. The per capita ownership of automoA. declares. biles in the United States, at the out"The ~fcLeod bill for the creattOn set of the present year, was approxiof a Pan-American highway connecting mately one to every 4.5 persons. The the Two American Continents; the net increase in automobile registraMcNary bill for an Alaska-Canadian- tions during the past twelve months U.S. highway and the Robinson-Phipps was 1,358,000 vehicles. During the resolution for the creation of a United same period a total of 38,594 miles was States Motorways co>nmission look . added to the network of Federal and ing to ·~he establishment of an ex- State highway systems. These figures press highway ·system throughout the are among the highlights of a survey, United States are some of the out- made by the American Motorists asd. 1 b ·d d b sociation, in cooperation with The stan mo- proposa s to e consi ere Y Congre~s," according to The Auto- Automobile Club of Illinoi., showing mobile Club of Illinois. the trend of autodom in the United Numerous bills know as "Special A\d" States during the past 12 months. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~--~~~·~~~~~~~~~ H SALES Everything for the Automobile NEVER CLOSED OPEN AUTO PAWN SHOP There was recently established in Prague a pawn shop or office for lending money on automobiles, trucks and tractors, according to the Automobile Club of Illinois. After the value of the car has been determined by an official appraiser, a loan of 50 percent of this amount will be given. Loans are usually made for three months but may be extended. CHEVROLET SALES HIGH Chevrolet will sell more cars this January than in January a year ago, according to H. ]. Klingler, vice-president and general sales manager of the Chevrolet Motor company, who ;mnounced last Saturday that the month's schedule had to be increased in response to the greatest reception a new Chevrolet model has received in the nineteen-year history of the company. EIGHT CARS PER MILE Comparing the number of cars in use to the number of miles of availabl~ ~ighways, a survey made by the Automobile Club of Illinois, shows that there are approximately eight automobiles for each mile of road in the United ·States, compared with 7.8 automobiles for each mile of highway as of January a year ago. Portals of Garage. Open According to a statement which appeared recently in several Swiss daily papers, the chief engineer of the electrical plants of Neuchatel. Switzerland, has announced the following interesting invention, states The Automobile Club of Illinois: A few meters in front of the garage, the driver will press a button fixed nea::- his seat in the car, and the door of the garage opens automatically. This invisible manipulation is explained as follows : An aerial, fixed on the top of the garage receives the waves sent out of the car by pressing the abovementioned button. These waves start a motor which opens or closes automatic~lly the doors, while another car, not equipped with exactly the same wavelength, will not be able to start the whole apparatus. The Largest Motor Rt~pair SHAKEN TO PIECES The packed snow and ice on the streets have made very rough driv· ing for the last two months. Prac· tically every nut and bolt on all Wilmette automobiles is loose. Let us tighten up your car-stop wear and noise. It only costs three or four dollars. Shop . m Wilmette 27,000 SLAIN Motor vehicle fatalities, according to the best estimates, last year approximated 27,000 deaths. Of the total killed, by automobiles, approximately 9,000 deaths occurred in the 78 largest cities of the country. Reduced to a ratio, the motor vehicle death rate for the past year was 25.9 per 100,000 population, as compared with 22.5 per 100,000 in 1928, or an increase of 15 per cent during 1929. fJ~ MAI~TR.EET .,.._ -... .,. --~oi J. C. SLOWN A. B. VANDEUSEN