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. 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. 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. The Acts Locomotive Act 1861 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 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. The act contained sections on: Toll fees of locomotives and their wagons: to be tolled at every 2 tons of vehicle weight, and equal to the respective tolls charged for horse-drawn vehicles. Vehicles with non-cylindrical wheels were to be charged 50% more. (Section 1) Regulations on the minimum width of wheels of vehicles over 3 tons: and on maximum loads per wheel, and restrictions on vehicles thought to be damaging to roads. (Sections 3, 4, 5) Regulations, restrictions, and procedures for compensation to trustees on the passage of locomotives over bridges and other structures for any damage caused thereon. (Section 7) Requirement for the vehicle to consume its own smoke (Section 8) Requirement for a road locomotive to be manned by at least two persons, with additional persons in charge of trains of wagons, as well as requirements for the vehicle to carry functional lights during nighttime. (Section 9) A speed limit of 10 mph on open roads, or 5 mph in inhabited areas. (Section 11) Requirement for the owners name, and the weight of the