Traffic Calming a Hundred Years Ago

Speeding on lower Union and Allen streets has been a topic of discussion at Common Council Police Committee meetings in recent months. Driving at dangerous speeds is not a new problem in Hudson. This morning, Gossips discovered this item, which appeared in the Hudson Evening Register a hundred years ago, on July 29, 1914.

SPEEDING CHAUFFEUR PAYS A FINE OF $25

Came Down Warren Street at Rate of About 

30 Miles an Hour.

After dashing down Warren street about 6 o'clock last evening at a speed estimated at 30 miles an hour, Augustus Rodick, a New York chauffeur, driving a big touring car in which was his employer and some ladies, was arrested by Officer Miller.

As the car passed down the thoroughfare it attracted considerable attention, and the police assert they could have easily procured forty witnesses willing to testify that Rodick was driving recklessly. 

Rodick was arraigned before Judge Riley. He stated that the party was en route to Albany, being in a hurry to get there. He boasted of being able to drive through the principal streets in New York at 25 miles an hour without being molested by the "coppers." Rodick pleaded not guilty and wanted an immediate trial.

Officer Miller, who made the arrest, requested a short adjournment to procure witnesses. With this two men in the court room, a chauffeur and an attorney, signified their willingness to take the stand for prosecution, the attorney stating that he wasn't desirous of mixing into the affair, but since the chauffeur didn't know enough to plead guilty, he would be willing to testify. Rodick was found guilty and paid a fine of $25.