Condition of Roads on Arizona State Highway System

JANUARY, 1928 ARIZONA HIGHWAYS Page Seventeen Vehicle Superintendent Explains Important “Rules of the Road” for Benefit of Automobile Drivers

Considerable confusion and lack of understanding of the new Highway Code relative to its requirements as to motor vehicle operators has been developed through unauthorized and misleading statements, according to E. M. Whitworth, vehicle superintendent. For the guidance of the vehicle operator the following information is offered: Every person who is employed to operate a motor vehicle must have a chauffeur's license.

No chauffeur's licenses are issued to persons under the age of 18.

It shall be unlawful for any person, whether licensed or not, who is under the age of 21 years to drive a motor vehicle while in use as a school bus for the transportation of pupils to or from a school, or to drive a motor vehicle while in use as a public passenger-carrying vehicle.

Chauffeur's license carries a fee of $2.00, which license shall expire on December 31 each year, and shall be reRenewed annually upon application and payment of fees required by law.

Operator's license, which all drivers must have in their possession at all times during the operation of a motor vehicle, carries a fee of .50¢ and is effective until suspended or revoked.

No operator's license shall be issued to any person under the age of 16 years, and no chauffeur's license shall be issued to any person under the age of 18 years.

MINORS' STATUS DEFINED

No application shall be granted to any minor under the age of 18 years for an operator's license unless such application is signed by the father of the applicant, if the father is living and has custody of the applicant, otherwise by the mother or guardian having the custody of such minor; or in the event a minor under the age of 18 years has no father, mother or guardian, then an operator's license shall not be granted to the minor unless his application therefor is signed by his employer.

Any person who shall cause or knowingly permit a minor under the age of 18 years to drive a motor vehicle upon a highway as an operator, unless such minor shall have first obtained a license to so drive a motor vehicle, under the provisions of this act, is guilty of a misdemeanor.

Any negligence of a minor under the age of 18 years licensed upon applica-tion signed as provided in this act, when driving any motor vehicle upon a highway, shall be imputed to the per-son who shall have signed the applica-tion of such minor for said license, which person shall be jointly and sev erally liable with such minor for any damages caused by such negligence.

Every owner of a motor vehicle caus-ing or knowingly permitting a minor under the age of 18 years to drive such vehicle upon a highway, and any person who gives or furnishes a motor vehi-

cle

The trail starts winding and twisting through the weird rock formations, the canyons and bluffs not so stupendous will be encountered later on but growing in size and beauty until the summit of Cañon Lake, made by the Mormon Flat Dam, is reached, with its varied assortment of boats, from small row boats to rather pretentious house boats.

The tourist goes about the rim of this body of water for several miles when it is lost to view, and starts climbing Fish Creek Hill until the summit is reached, where, with a spectacular drop of fifteen hundred feet in a mile and a half, one sees the road far below. The Apache Indian has showed the way to the bottom for insofar as I can ascertain the road from the summit of Fish Creek Hill to the bottom follows very closely the original Apache Trail.

One starts climbing again from Fish Creek Inn at the bottom of Fish Creek Hill and within a few miles gets the first glimpse of the lake made by the Horse Mesa Dam. One is continuously in sight of this lake until he reaches the Roosevelt Dam, although at times a thousand feet or more above the lake and only five feet above the lake at the lowest point.

This will take you across the Dam to the Lodge Hotel, run by the Southern Pacific railroad. The road you take to reach the Lodge follows up Tonto Creek to the Natural Bridge and the Tonto Basin, scene of one of the bloodiest cattle and sheep wars the west has ever seen.

THE ROAD TO GLOBE

Back to the main trail, which skirts the water of Roosevelt Lake for miles, then through the town of Roosevelt and past the ancient cliff dwellings, which can be seen from the road, and over very interesting scenery into Globe.

Another dam is to be built along the Apache Trail below the Mormon Flat Dam, and on its completion, by using a small canoe, a water trip can be taken parallelling the Apache trail, with only three portages over the Mormon Flat, Horse Mesa and Roosevelt Dams. A great part of the time during this water trip one will be in sight of the trail, and need have no fear of hunger, for there are plenty of fish and ducks along the entire distance.

The Apache Trail has had its trials and tribulations since the Apache turned it over to his white brother. That section from Apache Junction to Roose velt was originally constructed by the United States government to haul supplies from the railroad at Mesa for the construction of the Roosevelt Dam.

The first trouble came with the construction of the Mormon Flat Dam, the back waters from the dam submerging a portion of the road which necessitated building upon higher ground.

Then the back waters of the Horse Mesa Dam submerged another portion and this was completed on higher ground December 1, 1927, and barring earthquakes and extreme floods, the Apache Trail will never be closed to the White Fathers using their "Chittoes" or Devil Horses again.

For those interested in dam construction a side trip can be made to the Mormon Flat and Horse Mesa Dam. These two dams are both of the thin section arched type of dams, depending upon the arch for their strength, while the Roosevelt is of the mass type of construction, depending upon mass for its strength.

Visitors to Arizona should not miss the trip over the Apache Trail, even if they do not enjoy wonderful scenery, for the trail is nationally known through advertisements by the Southern Pacific Railroad, which transfers passengers at Globe to Busses, placing them on the train again at Phoenix.

Page Eighteen ARIZONA HIGHWAYS JANUARY, 1928

Vehicle to such minor, shall be jointly and severally liable with such minor for any damages caused by the negligence of such minor in driving such vehicle. At an early date copies of the Highway Code, Motor Vehicle Division, will be available for distribution to the various county and city officials throughout the state. The hundred per cent, cooperation on the part of all officials will undoubtedly result in a decided halt of the traffic violations now existent.

Under the terms of the bill, the Mo tor Vehicle Division is made a court of record as regards all traffic violations. Report forms have been forwarded all Superior Court Judges, Justices of the Peace and Police Court Judges. The law makes it mandatory that a violator of the traffic code, charged with a traffic violation and found guilty of forfeiting his bond, must be reported on the proper form to this Division by the presiding magistrate While county and city courts have a right to specify the amount of fine to be assessed against a traffic violator, and temporarily suspend or revoke a license, the official revocation or suspension must come through the Motor Vehicle Division, though the court wherein the violator has been tried may, when making such report to the Motor Vehicle Division, make such recommendation as it deems proper. In the event of conviction on certain charges set out specifically in the Highway Code, revocation or suspension is mandatory.

Reporting Accidents

Forms for accident reports have been furnished to police and sheriffs' offices and other suitable agencies, these forms calling for sufficiently detailed information to disclose with reference to a highway accident the cause, conditions then existing and the persons and vehicles involved.

It shall be the duty of the driver of any vehicle involved in an accident resulting in injury or death to any person or property damage to an apparent extent of fifty dollars or more, to forthwith report the accident in writing to the police department of the city wherein such accident occured, or if it occurred outside of a city, then to the sheriff of the county wherein it occurred. Every police department and sheriff shall forward a copy of every such report so filed with it to this Division. The Vehicle Division may require drivers involved in accidents, or police departments, to file supplemental reports of accidents upon forms furnished by it whenever the original re-port is insufficient in the opinion of the Vehicle Division.

Duty to Stop in Case of Accident:

The driver of any vehicle which strikes any person or collides with any other vehicle shall immediately stop and give his name and address and the names and addresses of all passengers not exceeding five in his vehicle, also the registration number of his vehicle, to the person struck or the occupants of the vehicle collided with, and shall also render to such persons all necessary assistance, including the carrying of such persons to a physician or surgeon for medical or surgical treatment, if such treatment is required or if such carrying is requested by the person struck or any occupant of such vehicle collided with.

The person in charge of any garage or repair shop to which is brought any motor vehicle which shows evidence of having been involved in a serious accident or struck by any bullet shall report to the nearest police station or sheriff's office within twenty-four hours after such motor vehicle is received, giving the engine number, registration number and the name and address of the owner or operator of such vehicle.

The Motor Vehicle Division, for the information of the public, advises these pertinent facts relative to the new Highway Code: Registration: Certificate of title must accompany all applications for annual registration of car; no exceptions.

Since the Division requires that all cars must be registered by February 1st, due to the heavy registration in this county and to expedite conformity to this ruling, a man has been placed in the office of the County Assessor to advise applicants for registration who may apply for same without the necessary Certificate of Title as to how a duplicate may be secured, should proof be shown that the original has been lost, and aid in the development of application for same.For the information of car owners non-resident of Maricopa County all matters pertaining to Certificate of Title are handled by the office of the Motor Vehicle Division, 17th and Jackson Sts.. Phoenix. The matter of Certificate of Title must not be confused with registration of cars, i. e., application for and obtaining of license plates which must be had through the various County Assessors of the state.

For the information of car owners who are purchasing cars through conditional sales contract or have developed chattel mortgage, etc., you are advisedthat it is improper for the holder of such contract or mortgage to be in possession of the Certificate of Title, and, upon request, same must be surrendered to the registered owner of the vehicle.

REGISTRATION FEES

Registration Fees: All cars carry a registration fee of $3.50. In the case of vehicles used as pleasure cars this is the only fee. If a vehicle is used for commercial purposes, an additional fee is required. On the reverse side of the application for registration is shown the schedule of fees, based on unladen weight and tire equipment, in addition to this $3.50 fee. Trailers and semi-trailers must carry license plates, and the $3.50 rate and table applies in their cases.

Road tractors and truck tractors must carrry license plates.

Under this new law common carriers must carry both state and Corporation Commission plates at all times.

Under the present law plates are issued to the owner and not the car. Upon the transfer of ownership of car plates must be surrendered to the Motor Vehicle Division or your assessor, its agent. Should this not be done, the new owner will not be granted Certificate of Title until such surrender has been made.

HIGHWAY COMMISSION NOTES

The Arizona State Highway Commission has agreed to take over the Grand Canyon road, leading from the Old Trails Highway to the Grand Canyon upon the expiration of two years, on completion of construction, providing it meets with the approval of the Highway Department.

The national federal government is to construct this link of road, opening up a play-ground for visitors in the northern part of the state.

The Arizona Good Roads Association will meet in convention at Nogales. January 23 and 24, 1928. The Arizona State Highway Commission have agreed to attend in a body, together with the State Engineer, for the purpose of cooperating with the Association in the building and improving of state roads.

JANUARY, 1928 ARIZONA HIGHWAYS Page Nineteen Nation's Bill for Road Construction Now More Than Billion Dollars a Year

tenance report outlining the proposed changes in the system of maintaining the state roads. The Ari zona State Highway Commission, by unanimous vote, endorsed his program. The new system assures that the mainFederal Aid road projects, completed during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1927, increased by more than 8,300 miles the mileage of improved roads in the Federal-aid highway system, and brought the total length of roads improved with Federal assistance up to 64,209 miles, the chief of the Bureau of Public Roads, Thos. H. MacDonald, says in his annual report to Secretary of Agriculture Jardine. The Bureau of Public Roads also cooperated with the state highway departments in secondary improvements necessitated by increased traffic on 1376 miles. Independently for the most part, it completed construction of 453 miles of main highways in the National Forests; and at the request of the National Park Service the bureau surveyed and supervised the construction of important roads in the national parks and monuments, among them a number which will give access to hitherto unapproachable beauty spots of the national domain.

Federal payments during the year amounted to $81,371,013.03 or about $6,000,000 less than the disbursement of the previous year which in turn was $8,000,000 lower than the year before. "It may be expected," Mr. MacDonald comments, "that the annual expenditure will be still further reduced in the future until the accumulated balances of earlier appropriation being expendedthe program of expenditure reaches the rate set by the annual authorization of $75,000,000 of recent years.

"The annual highway bill of the country," the report continues, "is in excess of a billion dollars, including all expenditures of the Federal state, and county and other local governments, for construction, maintenance and administration. Of this amount the Federal expenditure is less than 8 per cent and the states alone spent, of their own funds, more than six times the amount they received from the Federal Government. It is apparent, therefore, that the Federal expenditure, at the current rate, is not extravagant, but is, in fact, extremely moderate in view of the large and growing interstate traffic.tenance of the state roads will be placed in a better condition at a considerable less cost per mile.

The Arizona State Highway Commission is desirous of obtaining the cooperation of the various civic bodies of the Salt River Valley, the Salt River "The largest disbursements during the year were made in Missouri, New York and Texas. To each of these states the Federal Government paid more than $4,000,000. Pennsylvania received more than $3,000,000 and all other states less than that sum.

MID-ATLANTIC STATES BENEFIT

"In proportion to the total mileage of the several geographic divisions, the Federal-aid disbursement in 1927 was greatest in the Middle Atlantic States, and least in the West South Central states. On this basis the first of these groups received more than twice as much as the second, and between these two extremes the other areas, ranged in descending order, were as follows: New England, South Atlantic, Pacific, East North Central, East South Central, West North Central, and Mountain.

"That the offer of Federal-aid has not induced the states to make expenditures in excess of those they would otherwise have made is indicated by the fact that in 1926 every state with two exceptions only (Montana and North Dakota) made expenditures, some very large, in addition to those for Federal-Aid roads, the total of such additional expenditures being $452,798,000, or more than four times the amount to match Federal Aid."

Cooperating with the state, the bureau completed the selection of the principai transcontinental roads which will form the United States highway system, and on which uniform signs and markers are to be erected by the states. It also practically completed the distribution to state highway departments of the surplus war material, and retains only a comparatively small quantity of explosives which will be distributed this year.

"Equalling if not transcending in value the service directly rendered in the construction of roads," Mr. MacDonald believes that "the researches of the bureau have made available to engineers more exact knowledge of the fundaValley Water Users Association, the Board of Supervisors of Maricopa County and the farmers in general, to prevent the flooding of the paved highways. This continual flooding is destroying the pavement in many places, and eventually will force the expenditure of great sums of money to repair the Federal-aid highway system now includes more than 185,000 miles of road, about one-third of which has been improved with Federal assistance. With the exception of about 7,500 miles, all the 54,000 miles have been improved in the last six years. "The number of motor vehicles," Mr. MacDonald observes, "continues to increase annually at an approximately constant rate. The registration of 1926 was more than twice that of 1921, the year in which the Federal-aid system was designated, and the traffic served by the roads has, of course, increased proportionately. It is necessary, therefore, not only to extend the improved mileage, but also gradually to raise the type of improvement on the roads already constructed."

Fundamentals of highway design and economics. Of special importance are the studies of the magnitude and effects of the impact of heavy motor trucks upon highway surfaces, and the possibility of reducing the intensity of the impact forces by changes in the spring, wheel and tire equipment, and by refinement in the surface of roads." Other important studies dealt with soils and road surfaces, transport and traffic surveys, efficiency studies in the operations of road building, and the testing of materials and designs.

BRIDGE BUILDING INCREASES

The aggregate length of the bridges more than 20 feet long built during the year was 45.9 miles, which was more than twice the bridge mileage of the preceding year. A bridge, more than two miles in length, spans the Choctawhatchee river in Florida between Westville and Caryville. Two, each more than a mile in length were completed, one over the White river between Bedford and Mitchell in Indiana and the other two over the Platte river in Nebraska.

The report includes brief summaries of the Federal-aid road work in each of the 48 states, and short descriptions of the more important researches in progress.

These links in the paved highways. The Commission believes that this will have the hearty cooperation of all those interested in preventing this destruction. and does not believe that it will be forced to use drastic measures in bring. ing about the elimination of this carelessness.