A novelty in 1900, by 1920 increasingly commonplace, and a fact of everyday life by the close of the Second World War, the automobile compelled municipal governments to assume new responsibilities and financial obligations unthought-of in earlier days of horse-drawn transportation. City Council passed its first by-law concerning the operation of motor vehicles on city streets in 1912. Within three years proponents of town planning in Hamilton were calling for wider streets to relieve present and future congestion and to meet new traffic requirements. And traffic was not the only problem for with the automobile also came the question of regulating parking. Consequently, Council established a list of streets designated as official parking places..

A Traffic and Street Railway Subcommittee of the Works Committee was formed in 1923 to recommend regulations governing vehicular traffic on streets, to draw up by-laws establishing parking places, hours, and time limits, and to arrange for street and parking signs. Traffic regulations were published in printed form and distributed to drivers. Enforcement was placed in the hands of the Traffic Branch of the Police Department..

For the next 25 years suggestions were made regularly that traffic control was important enough to warrant a separate Committee of Council with duties encompassing the regulation of steam, vehicular, and electric railway traffic, highways, education, law enforcement and traffic signs and markings. In 1949 Council agreed. A Traffic Committee was set up as well as a department under a coordinator/director who was accountable to the Committee and served as its permanent secretary. The coordinator prepared detailed studies and information surveys for the Committee concerning traffic arteries, parking regulations, through streets, and other related matters and advised the Committee concerning complaints and applications by delegations. In particular, he worked in concert with the Police Department and was expected to possess detailed knowledge concerning the type, location, and frequency of motor vehicle accidents in the city. In 1960 his duties were amended by By-law 9353 to include the placement, erection, and maintenance of traffic control devices. The creation of the Traffic Committee itself was acknowledgement of the difficulties which the growing popularity of the automobile posed. Between 1919 and 1949 the number of registered, non-commercial passenger vehicles in Hamilton had risen from 4,948 to 32, 929; from 1949 to 1968 their number would triple to 96, 706. There was one automobile to every 22 residents in 1919, one to every three in 1969. Indeed, a 1945 "Report of Existing Conditions", commissioned by the Planning Committee, concluded that east-west congestion and other traffic problems were major dilemmas facing the city.

Local government recognized these difficulties. It undertook comprehensive traffic surveys, sought to provide better entrances to the city, and emphasized the creation in the Traffic Department of a staff of trained engineering personnel capable of studying and advising on traffic problems. City Council minutes began to include increasingly lengthy and comprehensive by-laws to regulate traffic. These generally included general traffic directions, information on meters, parking, and stopping, penalties for infractions, and lists of through highways, one-way streets, bus stops and routes, and parking areas.

History of World Traffic


Automobile Down The Ages

As wheel got invented in the Mesopotamian Civilization, our own civilization was set to motion, for it wheeled our imaginations.

In 1645 a sort of cycle was invented by Jean Theson but it had no Brakes, Pedal or Steering and needed feet motion. Laufmachine cycle was then created by Karl Von (1817). Soon this was made into the regal Dandy Horse by Dennis Johnson. In 1839 the proper cycle was shaped by K. Macmillan. It had iron wheels and a wooden frame. The manifestation of automobile horse-power was taught in 1769 by Nicolas Joseph Cugnot, who invented the first 'Steam Truck' which the French army thought was useful.

Then after, automobiles enveloped our life and culture. But the notion called 'accident' endangered our future. The first accident of the Steam Truck in 1771 was the eye opener.

During 1899 the first fatal accident took place with the death of a driver. Then onward, the world coined several road safety measures. Still, the present scenario is such that 5 lakh people are killed and millions are injured all over the world every year in road accidents.

This accident menace makes our children an endangered species of the future. So let us teach our children, the Road Safety Culture. Today's informed child only can ensure a safe future.

The Firsts in the History of World Traffic


The First Accident
In 1771 the first accident involving a motor vehicle took place in Paris when Cugnot's steam tractor hit a low wall in the grounds of the Paris arsenal.

The First Act

The Locomotives and Highway Act was the first piece of British motoring legislation. This was also known as the Red Flag Act of 1865. The act required three persons in attendance one to steer, one to stoke and one to walk 60 yards ahead with a red flag to warn the oncoming traffic.


The First Number of the World
The world's first car number plates were issued by the French police in 1893.

First Man to be Challaned
In 1895 John Henry Knight was convicted and fined for using a motor-tricycle on the highway. He was probably the first motorist to appear in court.


First Fatal Car Accident
The first motor-car accident in Britain resulting in the death of the driver occurred in Grove Hill, Harrow-on-the Hill, London, on 25th February 1899.

Dusty Road to Tar Surface
In 1902 Tar was first used on a Macadam surface to prevent dust in Monte Carlo. It was the idea of Dr. Guglielminetti, a Swiss. At first the tar was brushed in cold, but soon it was applied hot.


The Motor Car Act
The Motor Car Act of Britain came into force on 1st January 1904. It required that all cars be registered and carry a number plate, and all motorists to have a driving licence. But there was no driving test to pass and the licence was obtained by filing up a form and paying the fee at a post office. The act made dangerous driving an indictable offence.

The First Petrol Pump
The first petrol pump was installed in USA in 1906.


The First Traffic Light of the World
The World's first traffic lights were installed in Detroit, USA in 1919. The first traffic lights in Britain were installed in Wolverhampton during 1928. However, they did not come to London till 1932.

Pedestrian Crossing
The pedestrian crossing were instituted in Britain in 1934. The roads were marked by dotted lines. On the pavement there were striped Belisha beacon light poles named after Britain's Minister of Transport L. Hore-Belisha. The Zebra crossing with black and white stripes was developed after the second world war.


First Traffic Police Woman
Police women were used for traffic control duties for the first time in Paris in 1964. In Delhi we introduced women traffic police in 1989.


First Box Junction
Box junctions, marked with yellow cross-hatching, were introduced in London during 1964. The aim was to prevent traffic blocking junctions when it could not proceed and this was successful.
There are four types of driver's license in the Iran, Motorcycles Permit, Second Grade Driver's license, First Grade Driver's license and Specific Driver's license. The minimum age for driving in the Iran is 18 years old.

Age Requirements for licenses:

* 1) Motorcycles Permit - Must be at least 18 years old
*  2) Second Grade - Must be at least 18 years old
*   3) First Grade - Must be at least 23 years old
*   4) Specific - Must be at least 23 years old

Restrictions:

* Motorcycles Permit - Motorcycles/Motorized Tricycles
*  Second Grade - Vehicle up to 3500 kg Gross Vehicle Weight
*  First Grade - Vehicle above 3500 kg Gross Vehicle Weight
* Specific - for Crane and similar this

Traffic congestion is an important problem in modern society. Lots of money and time are wasted in traffic jams. Moreover, car crashes and accidents are more frequent during busy traffic conditions. Several efforts are made to tackle this problem: better facilities and regulations should improve the situation on existing roads while the number of roads is increased as well. It turns out however that traffic congestion is highly dependent on the behavior of individual drivers. Therefore it is useful to gain as much knowledge as possible about the behavior of individual drivers before new decisions and regulations for traffic jam controlling are initiated. Current traffic theories are however not yet able to correctly model the behavior of drivers during congestion or nearly congested traffic flow.