1937 Detroit Driver's Handbook

[BVos]

Here's a fascinating find on the web: the 1937 handbook entitled "The Right to Drive", published by the Plymouth Motor div. of Chrysler and prepared in cooperation with the Detroit Police Dept. This was an era of explosive car growth but no standardized system for road/traffic markings, drivers licenses, etc. and little knowledge of driving and safety culture. Lots of great old pics of Detroit along with some interesting/humorous explanations.

http://http://www.us-highways.com/trtdr00.htm

[Stosh]

Link didn't work, too many http's. Here's the better one.
http://www.us-highways.com/trtdr00.htm

Very nice booklet. Some nice shots of the city.

[Todd_Scott]

Very cool. I've got a copy of the 1929 Traffic Regulations for Detroit. I haven't scanned it and put it on-line yet.

[EastsideAl]

I believe that large building in the right background of the first Woodward picture on page 5 is Blessed Sacrament Cathedral before its towers were built.

[luckycar]

Over 300 killed in traffic smashups in 1936!Just in Detroit?Talk about the Darwin Award winners,hell we were good for the whole century.Does this include streetcars,horses and people just running into each other?I think this is how our population decline started.Over 300?

[WKL]

The insturmentation in the car on pg 6 is great. Just one big old speedometer in the middle of the dash.

[jackie5275]

That is sooo cool. Thanks

[KENSINGTONY]

I wish I had those Tootsietoy toy cars shown in those pages!And that photo of the car that smashed into the bridge abutment is truly frightening.I don't think a seat belt would have helped at all.The speed limits[[20m.p.h. residential,15[[!) m.p.h. business) are just a hoot!Can you imagine 15 m.p.h. on our major streets today?

[Ragtoplover59]

I have the Detroit Police Depts "Rules of Driving" booklet from 1925.

It includes a complete list of all "Complete Stop" streets !
Very cool little book, sure shows how times have changed.

[eriedearie]

Thanks BVos, I really enjoyed paging through that booklet.

[Retroit]

Fascinating! I loved the old pictures - quite a travel back in time. I suppose the high death and injury rate, despite the 20mph speed limit, was due to:

• lack of seat belts
• brakes that took up to 40 feet to stop a car going 20mph
• people standing in the way of oncoming traffic waiting for the streetcar
• people hitching rides on running boards and bumpers

Some of the rules seem so obvious to us today, even as we still allow people to text message while they're driving.

[skyl4rk]

[Sludgedaddy]

1937....Amazing....300 people killed in traffic accidents, but nobody killed over a pair of gym shoes or a piece of Bar-B-Q chicken.....simply astounding!