Page 26 - WW1 - 1916

Redditch Local History Society Remembering Redditch Residents & WW1

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The Bromsgrove, Droitwich and Redditch Messenger – Saturday 26 February
1916

Lights on Perambulators – Home Secretary’s Definitions – In a letter to a Hitchin
correspondent the Home Secretary (Mr H. Samuel) has solved two knotty problems in
connection with the Lights (Vehicles) Order, under which it was stated at the Hitchin Police
Court that a perambulator was a vehicle, and was bound to carry a lamp at night showing
white to the front and red to the rear, and that if such combined lamp was not obtainable
then two lamps were necessary, one at the front and one at the rear.

Asked to define which end of the perambulator was the rear end, and where the lamps
should be attached, the Home Secretary had replied: “The lamp should be so attached that
the white light shows in the direction in which the perambulator is going, and the red light in
the reverse direction.”

The Home Secretary’s solution of the second problem, however is more important, and has
brought joy to many households, for he states: “The order only applies to perambulators on
the roadway,” and as “roadway” is defined as “the part of the road reserved for vehicular
and horse traffic,” nursemaids can continue to hold meetings on the footpath as heretofore
without carrying lights to indicate their presence.

Page: 26 © RLHS 2014