The Peril of the Open Road
A hit-and-run driver on the Guide Meridian road destroys a buggy and attempts to hide their identity.
An automobile collided with a buggy on the Guide Meridian road, Sunday, breaking all but five spokes out of one of the rear wheels. Mr. Kirby, who was driving, says that he gave the auto half of the road, but the chauffeur wanted it all. The men in the auto went on without stopping to see what mischief they had done. When they were about a mile from Wiser Lake they stopped long enough to take the number off their machine so they could not be identified.
“Mr. Kirby, who was driving, says that he gave the auto half of the road, but the chauffeur wanted it all.”
The Guide Meridian road remains a major artery in Whatcom County. This 1908 account highlights the early, lawless days of the automobile, where drivers could simply vanish to escape accountability—an early precursor to modern concerns over traffic safety and accountability on increasingly busy rural roads.
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