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As a result of this demand for more equitable transport, the National League of Good Roads was established in 1892. The group held a convention in Washington, D.C. a year later, and subsequently in 1893 the Office of Road Inquiry was established within the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This agency, with little funding to operate adequately given the task at hand, was responsible for collecting factual data on the nation’s highway system.
The Duryea consisted of one-cylinder gasoline engine, with electrical ignition. All Curved Dash models featured tiller steering and a seat side crank for starting.
By 1894 , the use of a tiller to steer a car became more and more ineffective. Taking inspiration from the same nautical industry, car builders began replacing the tillers with ship-inspired helms. Simpler and smaller than their nautical counterparts, the steering wheels in the car made their mark during the Paris-Rouen race, when the Panhard model driven by Alfred Vacheron was first recorded using a steering wheel to turn.
Car insurance policy was sold in 1898 by Traveler’s Insurance Co. to Dr. Truman Martin of Buffalo, N.Y., according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The policy gave Martin $5,000 in liability coverage. At the time, Martin would likely have been more concerned with crashing into one of the country’s 18 million horses, rather than another of the 4,000 cars in the U.S. Martin’s 1898 policy, which gave him coverage well below what most insurers would consider appropriate, cost $12.25.
The law essentially stated: "No motor vehicle shall run on any highway outside the limits of a city at a speed that exceed fifteen miles and hour, and no such vehicle shall, on any highway or public place within the limits of any city, be run at a speed to exceed twelve miles an hour." Law required the driver to slow down at crossings, intersections, and when "upon meeting a horse." There was also a fine associated for violating this law - specified as $200 or less for each violation.
The automobile trade magazine, Horseless Age, "endorsed the idea of government standards for motor vehicles as a way to keep unsafely-constructed automobiles off the market".
The first traffic code was adopted by New York City. Following this move were many local and state governments forming their own laws and regulations. Many "municipalities had their own ordinances regulating speeds, parking, the use of bells, horns and gongs, the making of unnecessary exhaust noise and the emission of noxious gas, smoke or steam, and they imposed fines for violations. These regulations varied widely from city to city and, especially in the smaller municipalities were often enforced in a discriminatory way".
