Page 9 - the story of motoring

The first motorists were not at all
I
I. liked by certain people. They con-
sidered the car was a nuisance and
- . frightened horses. Some businessmen
who used horses could see that one
' day the car would put them out of
business. The police set speed traps
and arrested motorists at the first
chance. Magistrates were unfairly
harsh by giving high fines to pay.
So in 1905 the Automobile Associ-
ation (A.A. I was set up. to help
motorists. Their patrolmen would
cycle ahead to find out where the
traps were and then go back and
warn the motorists. They had se-
cret warning codes, like not salut-
ing a motorist or showing a badge
with black and red A.A. letters.

A lot of preparation was needed for every car journey. Petrol was bought in two gallon
cans from the chemist or hardware store. Oil and carbide powder [for acetylene gas
lamps] were also bought there. A motorist could expect a puncture on every journey.
The main causes were poor quality rubber tyres and discarded nails from horses' shoes.
Roads were not tarmaced. In winter they turned to mud and in summer became very dusty.