At the turn of the nineteenth century, Police Commissioner Parry-Okeden (1895-1903) regularly remonstrated against the inadequate control of metropolitan traffic, which contributed to the increasing number of police court hearings and frequent street injuries:
“The unsatisfactory position of the police in reference to the vehicular traffic within the metropolitan area is well known, and it would be an advantage to both police and public if matters could be so arranged that the police here could be endowed with the powers in relation to such traffic wielded by the police in other large cities.”
The Brisbane Traffic Act, passed in 1895, required drivers and conductors of vehicles used for the conveyance of passengers or goods for hire to obtain licences from the Police Commissioners. The act included cars used on tramways.
The Metropolitan Traffic Act was not placed under the control of the police until 1906 (Brisbane Traffic Act, 1905) when there were only two or three motorcars in Brisbane. One ran on kerosene fuel and, by order, had to carry a red flag in front of it when it was driven on the roadway. Within a decade the number of motor vehicles rapidly increased. In 1914, the average number of cars per hour at each busiest Brisbane intersection was near a 1000, specifically at Queen and George Streets – 1200; Queen and Albert Streets – 1000; Queen and Edward Streets – 900.
While in the other parts of Australia automobile drivers had to give proof of their ability, in Queensland there was no system of assessing potential drivers. After 1914, police did administer a driving test but only to persons driving public or hire vehicles.
The existing traffic arrangements were dangerous to pedestrians and motorists alike, as furious driving and traffic related accidents were endemic. Between June 1915 and December 1916, there were 676 accidents reported, of which 24 were fatal and 36 serious. In 1927, almost a decade later, in a twelve month period there were 2,323 accidents, with 27 fatal and 32 serious. Figures fluctuate in later years but accidents always numbered in thousands.
The first private vehicle registrations began to be issued under the Main Roads Act of 1920. One of the very first registrations, issued in 1921, identified the make and model of a car, colour, engine and ‘power weight’; it also assigned a number of registration. The registration was valid for a period of one year. The fee was three pounds and six shillings.
The earliest ‘License for Driver of Motor Vehicle’ available is dated to 1922, it was valid for a period of twelve months. These driver’s licenses did not have photographs until the final decades of the previous century. Instead these provided physical description of the driver, such as age, height, complexion, eye and hair colour. The fee was fixed at seven shillings and six pence and remained unchanged until 1952, when their issue became free. The new Traffic Act of 1949 allowed driver’s licenses to be issued at all police stations.
According to the Queensland Police Commissioner’s Annual Reports, by the 1950s the number of registered motor vehicles increased by hundreds of thousands. In 1952, there were 253,361 registered cars. Inevitably, the road toll also increased. However, in relation to the number of vehicles on the road the total number of accidents showed only a marginal increase. During 1951-52, there were 5,214 road incidents, and 5,748 in 1952-53, which is almost a two-fold increase from 2,323 recorded for 1927. This goes to show that, fortunately, as the number of motorists grew so did road safety.
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This information has been supplied by the Queensland Police Museum from the best resources available at the time of writing. Our thanks to the Transport and Main Roads Heritage Centre for their help with this article.
The Police Museum is open 9am to 4pm Monday to Thursday and 10am to 3pm on the last Sunday of the month (Feb-Nov) and is located on the Ground Floor of Police Headquarters at 200 Roma Street, Brisbane. Contact: E: museum@police.qld.gov.au
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