CITY OF KEENE 
 
 RULES FOR DRIVING 
 
 AND 
 
 TRAFFIC REGULATIONS 
 
 AND EXTRACTS FROM THE 
 
 New Hampshire Automobile Laws 
 
 19 14 
 

 t, i°r- ! - 
 
 y\-e.‘S>cr- 
 
 AN ORDINANCE ENACTING 
 
 RULES FOR DRIVING 
 
 AND 
 
 TRAFFIC REGULATIONS 
 
 Be it ordained by the City Councils of 
 
 the City of Keene, as follows: 
 
 ARTICLE I. 
 
 VEHICLES IN MOTION. 
 
 Section 1. A vehicle, except when 
 passing a vehicle ahead, shall keep to 
 the right and as near the right curb as 
 practicable. 
 
 Sect. 2. Vehicles moving slowly 
 shall keep as close as is practicable to 
 the right-hand curb, so as to allow 
 faster moving vehicles free passage 
 on the left. 
 
 Sect. 3. A vehicle meeting another 
 shall pass on the right. 
 
 Sect. 4. A vehicle overtaking an¬ 
 other vehicle shall, in passing, keep 
 
 
to the left of the overtaken vehicle, 
 and shall not pull over to the right 
 until entirely clear of it, and so far 
 ahead of it as not to interfere with its 
 progress. 
 
 Sect. 5- A vehicle turning to the 
 right into another street shall turn the 
 corner as near the right-hand curb as 
 is practicable. 
 
 Thus 
 
 Sect. 6. A vehicle turning to the 
 left into another street shall pass to 
 the right of and beyond the center of 
 the street intersection before turning. 
 
 Right 
 
 * T V 
 
Sect. 7. No person having charge 
 of a vehicle shall allow the same to 
 come within ten feet of any vehicle 
 in front of him when approaching and 
 passing over a crossing where a pedes¬ 
 trian is about to pass. 
 
 ARTICLE II. 
 
 SIGNALS. 
 
 Section 1. Every driver of a ve¬ 
 hicle shall, in slowing up or stopping, 
 give a signal to those behind by rais¬ 
 ing a whip or hand vertically. 
 
 Sect. 2. In turning while in motion, 
 or in starting to turn from a standstill, 
 or in crossing from one side of the 
 street to the other, a signal shall be 
 given by the driver of the vehicle 
 about to be turned by raising a wlyp 
 or hand, indicating the direction in 
 which the turn is to be made. 
 
 Sect. 3. Before backing, ample 
 warning shall be given by voice or 
 uplifted hand r and while backing un¬ 
 ceasing vigilance must be exercised by 
 the driver not to injure those behind. 
 
 . Sect. 4. Drivers of motor vehicles 
 
of all kinds shall, in approaching a 
 crossing or in rounding a corner or 
 curve or a public street, sound their 
 signals in such a way as to give warn¬ 
 ing to other vehicles and to pedestri¬ 
 ans of their approach. 
 
 ARTICLE III. 
 
 Section 1. No vehicle shall stop in 
 such a way as to obstruct any street 
 or crossing for the purpose of taking 
 on or setting down a passenger or 
 for loading or unloading freight, or 
 for any other purpose, except in case 
 of accident, or when directed to do so 
 by a police officer. 
 
 Sect. 2. No vehicle shall stop or 
 stand within the intersection of any 
 st»eet, nor within ten feet of a street 
 corner. 
 
 Sect. 3. No person having charge 
 of a vehicle in a public street shall 
 refuse or neglect to stop the same or 
 place the same as directed by a police 
 officer, any of these rules to the con¬ 
 trary notwithstanding. 
 
 Sect. 4. No person shall hitch any 
 
 6 
 
horse to any tree or shrub, or to any 
 fire-alarm, police signal post or hy¬ 
 drant. 
 
 Sect. 5. Any police officer in uni¬ 
 form in his discretion may remove any 
 horse or horses, vehicle or vehicles 
 left upon any street not in the appar¬ 
 ent charge of any driver or other per¬ 
 son, or in violation of any of these 
 regulations, to another place on such 
 street, or from such street to some 
 other street, or to the city yard, a 
 public stable or garage, and leave the 
 same. 
 
 ARTICLE IV. 
 
 RECEIVING AND DELIVERING PAS¬ 
 SENGERS AND MERCHANDISE. 
 
 Section 1. No vehicle shall stand 
 in any one place in any public street 
 for more than ten (10) minutes at 
 any one time, for the purpose of sell¬ 
 ing goods, wares or merchandise, for 
 soliciting passengers, teaming or 
 trucking. Vehicles may head or back 
 up around the common in Central 
 square, but shall not stand in front of 
 
 7 
 
soldiers’ monument or cross walks nor 
 in direct line with West or Roxbury 
 streets. 
 
 ARTICLE V. 
 
 NOISE AND SMOKE NUISANCE. 
 
 Section 1. A signal is meant to 
 warn, and it must have that power in 
 every way, but no driver shall make 
 a nuisance of it by sounding it un¬ 
 necessarily. No driver shall use the 
 muffler cut-out except in steep hill¬ 
 climbing. Continuous smoke from 
 motor vehicles is unnecessary and is 
 hereby deemed a nuisance. 
 
 ARTICLE VI. 
 
 DEFINITIONS. 
 
 Section 1. The word “vehicle” in¬ 
 cludes equestrians, horses hitched to 
 vehicles, led horses, motor vehicles of 
 all kinds, and everything on runners 
 and wheels, except street cars, baby 
 carriages and invalid chairs. 
 
 Sect. 2. The word “horse” includes 
 all domestic animals. 
 
 8 
 
Sect. 3. The word “driver” includes 
 the rider of a horse, bicycle or tricycle, 
 the driver of a horse or horses and the 
 operator of a motor vehicle. 
 
 Sect. 4. The word “curb” shall 
 mean the lateral boundaries of that 
 portion of a street designated for the 
 use of vehicles, whether marked by 
 curbstones or not so marked. 
 
 ARTICLE VII. 
 
 PENALTIES. 
 
 Section 1. Whoever violates any of 
 the provisions of the foregoing rules 
 and regulations, shall be liable to a 
 penalty of not less than one dollar 
 nor more than ten dollars for each 
 offence. 
 
 This ordinance shall take effect on 
 publication in accordance with the 
 provisions of Chapter 133 of the Ses¬ 
 sion Laws of 1911. 
 
 9 
 
EXTRACTS FROM THE NEW HAMP¬ 
 SHIRE AUTOMOBILE LAW. 
 
 Laws 1911, Chapter 133, as amended 
 by the Laws of 1913. 
 
 Sect. 7. Every motor vehicle, oper¬ 
 ated or driven upon the ways of this 
 state, shall be provided with adequate 
 brakes in good working order and 
 sufficient to control such vehicle at 
 all times when the said vehicle is in 
 use, a muffler, a suitable and adequate 
 bell, horn or other device for signaling, 
 and suitable lamps. Every automobile 
 operated during the period from one 
 half hour after sunset to one half hour 
 before sunrise, shall display at least 
 two lighted lamps on the front and 
 one on the rear of such vehicle, which 
 shall also display a red light visible 
 from the rear. The rays of such rear 
 lamp shall shine upon the number 
 
 10 
 
plate carried on the rear of such ve¬ 
 hicle in such manner as to render the 
 numerals thereon visible for at least 
 fifty feet in the direction from which 
 the motor vehicle is proceeding. The 
 light on the front lamps shall be visi¬ 
 ble at least two hundred feet in the 
 direction in which the motor vehicle 
 is proceeding. 
 
 Sect. 12. Every person having con¬ 
 trol or charge of an auotomobile or 
 motor cycle, shall, whenever upon any 
 public street or way and approaching 
 any vehicle drawn by a horse or horses 
 or approaching any horse upon which 
 any person is riding, operate, manage, 
 and control such automobile or motor 
 cycle in such a manner as to exercise 
 every reasonable precaution to prevent 
 the frightening of such horse or horses 
 and to insure the safety and protection 
 of any person riding or driving the 
 same. And, if such horse or horses 
 appear to be frightened, the person 
 in control of such automobile or motor 
 cycle shall reduce its speed, and if 
 requested by the raising of a hand by 
 
 ll 
 
the rider or driver of such horse or 
 horses, shall not proceed further 
 toward such animal, and, in cases of 
 extreme fright, shall upon request re¬ 
 duce the motive power to a full stop. 
 Upon approaching any intersecting 
 way or curve..or corner in a way every 
 person operating a motor vehicle shall 
 slow down and give timely signal with 
 his bell, horn, or other device for sig¬ 
 naling; provided, that in the thickly 
 settled parts of a city or town no bell, 
 horn or other device for signaling shall 
 be sounded so as to make an unreason¬ 
 able noise, except in the case of fire 
 and police department vehicles; and 
 provided further, that no operator or 
 chauffeur of any motor vehicle shall 
 on any way permit any unreasonable 
 amount of smoke to escape from said 
 motor vehicle, nor shall any operator 
 or chauffeur on any way permit said 
 motor vehicle to make any unneces¬ 
 sary noise, by cutting out the muffler 
 or otherwise. The driver of any motor 
 vehicle on any highway, approaching 
 a crossing of ways, shall slow down 
 
and keep to the right of the intersec¬ 
 tion of the centers of both ways when 
 turning either to the right or to the 
 left. 
 
 Sect. 13. Every person operating a 
 motor vehicle on any way shall run it 
 at a rate of speed at no time greater 
 than is reasonable and proper under 
 all the circumstances, having regard 
 to traffic and the use of the way and 
 the safety of the public. 
 
 Sect. 14- If any person shall operate 
 a motor vehicle on any way at a rate 
 of speed greater than is reasonable 
 and proper, having regard to traffic 
 and the use of the way, and the safety 
 of the public, he shall be punished as 
 provided in section 16 of this act, and 
 it shall be conclusive evidence of a 
 rate of speed greater than is reason¬ 
 able and proper as aforesaid if a motor 
 vehicle is operated on any way outside 
 of a thickly settled or business part 
 of city or town at a rate exceeding 
 twenty-five miles per hour for a dis¬ 
 tance of a quarter of a mile. It shall 
 
 13 
 
be conclusive evidence of a rate of 
 speed greater than is reasonable and 
 proper as aforesaid if a motor vehicle 
 is operated on any way inside the 
 thickly settled or business part of a 
 city or town at a rate of speed ex¬ 
 ceeding fifteen miles per hour for the 
 distance of one eighth of a mile, or if 
 a motor vehicle is operated on any 
 way upon approaching an intersecting 
 way, or in traversing a crossing or 
 intersection of ways or in going around 
 a corner or a curve in a street or way 
 where the operator’s or chauffeur’s 
 view of the road traffic is obstructed, 
 at a rate of speed exceeding 10 miles 
 per hour; provided, however, that in 
 civil actions this evidence shall be 
 prima facie only. 
 
 Sect. 19. Whoever upon any way 
 operates an automobile or motor cycle 
 recklessly or while under the influence 
 of intoxicating liquor, or so that the 
 lives and safety of the public might 
 be endangered, or upon a bet, wager 
 or race, or who operates a motor ve¬ 
 hicle for the purpose of making a rec- 
 
 14 
 
ord, and thereby violates any provi¬ 
 sions of sections 14 and 15 of this act, 
 shall be punished by a fine not exceed¬ 
 ing one hundred dollars, or by impris¬ 
 onment not exceeding six months, or 
 both, and if any person be convicted 
 a second time of operating an automo¬ 
 bile while under the influence of in¬ 
 toxicating liquor, he shall be punished 
 by imprisonment not less than one 
 month and not exceeding one year. 
 A conviction of a violation of this sec¬ 
 tion shall be reported forthwith by the 
 court or trial justice to the secretary, 
 who shall revoke immediately the 
 license of the person so convicted. 
 Whenever any person so convicted ap¬ 
 peals, the said secretary shall suspend 
 forthwith the license of the person so 
 convicted, and shall order him to de¬ 
 liver his license to said secretary, and 
 shall not reissue said license unless 
 said person is acquitted in a court hav¬ 
 ing jurisdiction of the offense charged. 
 No new license or certificate shall be 
 issued by said secretary to any person 
 convicted of a violation of this section 
 
 15 
 
until after sixty days from the date 
 of such final conviction. 
 
 Sect. 20. Any person operating a 
 motor vehicle, knowing that injury has 
 been caused to a person, shall forth¬ 
 with bring his motor vehicle to a stop, 
 return to the scene of the accident, 
 give to any proper person demanding 
 the same his name and address, the 
 number of the driver’s license, the 
 registration number of the motor ve¬ 
 hicle, and the name and address of 
 each occupant thereof. Failure to 
 comply with the foregoing require¬ 
 ments shall constitute a felony, and 
 any person guilty thereof shall be 
 punished by a fine of not exceeding 
 one thousand dollars, or by imprison¬ 
 ment in the state prison for not ex¬ 
 ceeding three years, or both. 
 
 Sect. 21. Any person who, while 
 operating or in charge of a motor ve¬ 
 hicle, shall refuse when requested by 
 a police officer to give his name and 
 address, or the name and address of 
 the owner of such motor vehicle, or 
 
who shall give a false name or address, 
 or who shall refuse or neglect to stop 
 when signaled to stop by any police 
 officer who is in uniform, or who dis¬ 
 plays his badge conspicuously on the 
 outside of his outer coat or garment, or 
 who refuses on demand of such officer 
 to produce his license to operate such 
 vehicle or his certificate of registra¬ 
 tion, or to permit such officer to take 
 the license or certificate in hand for 
 the purpose of examination, or who 
 refuses on demand of such officer to 
 sign his name in the presence of such 
 officer, or who refuses or neglects to 
 produce his license when requested by 
 a court or trial justice shall be pun¬ 
 ished by a fine of not less than twenty- 
 five nor more than one hundred 
 dollars. 
 
 17 
 
FiRE ALARM, SCHOOL AND STORM 
 SIGNALS. 
 
 The superintendent has the right to 
 strike one blow upon the bells at any 
 time, to test the circuits; also to ring 
 in one round from any box, preceded 
 by a single blow, exactly five minutes 
 after the noon stroke, on Saturdays, 
 for the purpose of testing the boxes. 
 In case of a serious fire the engineers 
 may cause a second alarm to be 
 sounded from the nearest box. A sec¬ 
 ond alarm is given by striking ten 
 blows, followed by the box number. 
 
 SCHOOL STORM SIGNALS for sus¬ 
 pension of sessions on stormy days 
 are given on the Mechanic St. Mill 
 whistles as follows: For no morning 
 session, three blasts at 8 a. m.; for 
 no afternoon session, three blasts at 
 11 a. m. When the latter signal is 
 given, grades above the second will 
 continue in session until one o’clock. 
 
 18 
 
LOCATION OF BOXES. 
 
 5 Main, 
 
 6 Main, 
 
 7 St. James, 
 
 8 Main, 
 
 9 Central Sq. 
 
 13 Beaver Mills, 
 
 14 Water, 
 
 114 Keene Wooden W Co. 
 
 142 Willow St. 
 
 15 Water, 
 
 16 Main, 
 
 17 Main, 
 
 18 Marlboro, 
 
 19 Lower Marlboro. 
 113 Railroad, 
 
 22 Vernon, 
 
 23 Roxbury, 
 
 24 Beaver, 
 
 25 Washington, 
 
 26 Spring, 
 
 27 Washington, 
 
 31 Washington, 
 
 32 Elm, 
 
 33 Washington, 
 
 City Hospital 
 cor. Emerald 
 opp. Holbrook Co. 
 cor. Railroad 
 City Hall 
 Engine Room P. B. 
 
 cor. Grove 
 P. B. 
 
 cor. So. Lincoln 
 cor. Marlboro 
 cor. Baker 
 cor. Kelleher 
 
 cor. 93d 
 at Fire Station 
 cor. Beech 
 cor. Dover 
 near Giffin 
 cor. Brook 
 cor Wash. Ave. 
 opp. Pine 
 cor. High 
 cor. Gilsum 
 
 19 
 
35 Court, 
 
 cor. Prospect 
 cor. Pleasant 
 
 37 Mechanic, 
 
 41 Middle, 
 
 42 West, 
 
 43 West, 
 46 Court, 
 
 opp. Faulkner Mills 
 
 opp Schoolhouse 
 
 cor. School 
 at Glue Shop 
 cor. Ralston 
 
 cor. School 
 
 47 Court, 
 
 52 Emerald, 
 
 152 B. & M. R, R. Shops, 
 
 P. B. 
 
 53 Winchester, cor. Winchester Ct. 
 
 54 Island, 
 57 Pearl, 
 
 at Fowler’s Box Shop 
 3d Pole So. of Track 
 
 65 South Keene. 
 
 72 West, 
 
 73 Park Ave., 
 
 cor. Park Ave 
 cor. Arch 
 
 2 Still Alarm. 
 12 Military Call. 
 
 TRANSMITTER CALLS. 
 
 117 Edgewood- 
 
 124 North Lincoln St. 
 
 125 George St. 
 
 132 Upper Elm St. 
 
 147 Upper Court St. 
 
 172 Colony Farm, West St. 
 
 173 Avch St. 
 
 20 
 
153 Lower Winchester St. 
 
 174 Maple Avenue. 
 
 12 Military Call. 
 
 2 Still Alarm. 
 
 122 Brush Fire Call. 
 
 Telephone call.—For a fire, say to 
 operator, Fire Department, Emergency. 
 
 My Nearest Box Number is.