The Jackson Street Bridge Trap
Seattle authorities crack down on fast driving on the Jackson Street bridge, catching nine unsuspecting citizens in a single day.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Signs were recently placed at each end of the Jackson Street bridge warning the public not to ride or drive over that structure faster than a walk under penalty of a fine of ten dollars. The warnings not proving very efficient in preventing fast driving, Officer Small was yesterday stationed on the bridge with instructions to promptly arrest all persons who should violate the ordinance on the subject, and during the day he arrested no less than nine persons who in driving allowed their horses to exceed a walk. Each of those arrested was compelled to pay the fine of $10, which together with the costs amounted to $14.10. This was something of a hardship, as many of those arrested had not the slightest intention of breaking the law and were in complete ignorance of the ordinance. It might have been better to warn persons for a time until the law against fast driving on the bridge should become more generally known; but perhaps heroic measures are best.
“Each of those arrested was compelled to pay the fine of $10, which together with the costs amounted to $14.10.”
The transition from horse-drawn traffic to modern speed enforcement reflects the ongoing tension between public infrastructure safety and the frustrations of sudden, punitive enforcement. What was a bridge-crossing ordinance then finds an echo in modern debates over speed cameras and urban traffic management.
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