The Locomotive Acts (or Red Flag Acts) were a series of Acts of Parliament in the United Kingdom regulating the use of mechanically propelled vehicles on British public highways during the latter part of the 19th century.
The first three, the Locomotive Act 1861 (24 & 25 Vict. c. 70), the Locomotives Act 1865 (28 & 29 Vict. c. 83) and Highways and Locomotives (Amendment) Act 1878 (41 & 42 Vict. c. 77), contained restrictive measures on the manning and speed of operation of road vehicles; they also formalised many important road concepts such as vehicle registration, registration plates, speed limits, maximum vehicle weight over structures such as bridges, and the organisation of highway authorities.
The most strict restrictions and speed limits were imposed by the 1865 act (the "Red Flag Act"), which required all road locomotives, which included automobiles, to travel at a maximum of 4mi/h in the country and 2mi/h in the city, as well as requiring a man carrying a red flag to walk in front of road vehicles hauling multiple wagons.
The 1896 act removed some restrictions of the 1865 act and raised the speed to 14mi/h.
The Locomotives on Highways Act 1896 provided legislation that allowed the automotive industry in the United Kingdom to develop soon after the development of the first practical automobile (see History of the automobile). The last "locomotive act" was the Locomotives Act 1898.
The Highway Act 1835 and subsequent acts (Public Health Act 1875 (38 & 39 Vict. c. 55), Local Government Act 1888 and Local Government Act 1894) attempted to find satisfactory methods of maintaining roads since the UK turnpike trust system had failed following the UK railway boom.
New steam powered road locomotives, some up to 9 feet (2.7 m) wide and 14 tons, were alleged to damage the highway while they were being propelled at "high speeds" of up to 10mph.[1] There is evidence that the steam carriages' brakes and their wide tyres caused less damage to the roads than horse-drawn carriages because of the absence of horses' hooves striking the road and wheels which did not lock and drag.[2]
It has been claimed that the restrictions in the earlier act were advocated by those with interests in the UK railway industry and horse-drawn carriages.[3]
In addition to any concerns about the state of the roads, by the 1860s, there was concern that the widespread use of traction engines, such as road locomotives and agricultural engines, would endanger the safety of the public. It was feared that engines and their trailers might cause fatal accidents, scare horses, block narrow lanes, and disturb the locals by operating at night. Although all of these fears were justified and were soon realized, there was a gradual acceptance of the machines as they became more common in commerce.
Similar 'Red Flag' legislation was enacted in some states in the United States.[4]
The emerging UK automotive industry advocated very effectively for the 1896 Act during the preceding year. Coventry manufacturer Harry J. Lawson, who had purchased the British Daimler engine patents in 1895 and later was to form The Daimler Motor Company, was very influential.[5] Economic historian Kenneth Richardson has suggested that the 1896 Act may have been written by Sir David Salomons, the founder of the Self-Propelled Traffic Association, on his assumption that no government department personnel would have had the necessary experience to do so themselves.[6]
| Short Title: | Locomotive Act 1861[7] |
| Type: | Act |
| Parliament: | Parliament of the United Kingdom |
| Long Title: | An Act for regulating the use of locomotives on turnpike and other roads, and the tolls to be levied on such locomotives and on the waggons and carriages drawn or propelled by the same. |
| Year: | 1861 |
| Citation: | 24 & 25 Vict. c. 70 |
| Royal Assent: | 1 August 1861 |
| Status: | Amended |
| Original Text: | https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/24-25/70/enacted |
| Use New Uk-Leg: | yes |
| Uk-Leg Title: | Locomotive Act 1861 |
| Collapsed: | yes |
An Act for regulating the use of locomotives on turnpike and other roads, and the tolls to be levied on such locomotives and on the waggons and carriages drawn or propelled by the same.
The Locomotives on Highways Act 1861 (24 & 25 Vict. c. 70) recognised that the use of "powered locomotives" on turnpikes and other roads would become commonplace, and that many existing laws (e.g. Turnpike, Highway acts) did not contain any provision for regulation or tolling of such vehicles.[8] The act contained sections on:
The act also set out the values of fines for breach of the regulations.
| Short Title: | Locomotives Act 1865[9] |
| Type: | Act |
| Parliament: | Parliament of the United Kingdom |
| Long Title: | An Act for further regulating the use of Locomotives on Turnpike and other roads for Agricultural and other purposes. |
| Year: | 1865 |
| Citation: | 28 & 29 Vict. c. 83 |
| Royal Assent: | 5 July 1865 |
| Commencement: | 1 September 1865 |
| Expiry Date: | 1 September 1867 |
| Repealing Legislation: | Road Traffic Act 1930 |
| Status: | repealed |
| Original Text: | https://archive.org/details/statutesunitedk30britgoog/page/183/ |
| Collapsed: | yes |
An Act for further regulating the use of Locomotives on Turnpike and other roads for Agricultural and other purposes.
The Locomotive Act 1865 (28 & 29 Vict. c. 83):[10]
| Short Title: | Highways and Locomotives (Amendment) Act 1878[11] |
| Type: | Act |
| Parliament: | Parliament of the United Kingdom |
| Long Title: | An Act to amend the Law relating to Highways in England and the Acts relating to Locomotives on Roads; and for other purposes. |
| Year: | 1878 |
| Citation: | 41 & 42 Vict. c. 77 |
| Royal Assent: | 16 August 1878 |
| Repeal Date: | 5 November 1993 |
| Repealing Legislation: | Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1993 |
| Status: | repealed |
| Original Text: | https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/41-42/77/enacted |
| Collapsed: | yes |
An Act to amend the Law relating to Highways in England and the Acts relating to Locomotives on Roads; and for other purposes.
The Highways and Locomotives (Amendment) Act 1878 (41 & 42 Vict. c. 77) contained sections on:
The act also repealed and replaced with amendments part of the 1861 and 1865 Locomotive Acts; these included:
See main article: Locomotives on Highways Act 1896.
The Locomotives on Highways Act 1896 introduced a 12 mph speed limit (8 to 16 mph at the local authority's discretion). Speed limits were later increased by the Motor Car Act 1903.
| Short Title: | Locomotives Act 1898 |
| Type: | Act |
| Parliament: | Parliament of the United Kingdom |
| Long Title: | An Act to amend the Law with respect to the use of Locomotives on Highways, and with respect to extraordinary Traffic. |
| Year: | 1898 |
| Citation: | 61 & 62 Vict. c. 29 |
| Royal Assent: | 2 August 1898 |
| Repeal Date: | 5 November 1993 |
| Repealing Legislation: | Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1993 |
| Status: | repealed |
| Original Text: | https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/61-62/29/enacted |
| Collapsed: | yes |
An Act to amend the Law with respect to the use of Locomotives on Highways, and with respect to extraordinary Traffic.
The Locomotives Act 1898 (61 & 62 Vict. c. 29) required road users to affix signs displaying the weight of wagons; limited length of hauled road trains to three wagons without permission, and gave powers to road authorities to operate weighing machines for the weighing of road vehicles, as well as allowing fines for the contravention of the regulations, and allowed for compensation relating to delay caused by the weighing process. (Sections 2, 3 and 4 respectively)
The act also contained sections on: