16 SEPTEMBER 1905, Page 25

Two volumes may be recommended for study by all persons

interested—and who is not interested ?—in the safety and amenity of the public roads. These are The Law of Motor Cars and Motor Cycles and The Law of Heavy Motor Cars, both by D. H. Pettitt, and published by Jordan and Sons (3s. 6d. net each). This is a thorny subject on which, for the present at least, it is well to say as little as possible. We may note, however, one very seasonable remark made by the author : " The fixing of a maxi- mum speed limit does not in any way justify a higher speed than is consistent with safety and due care." A short time since the Kent County Council refused the application of the local authorities at Tenterden to fix a maximum speed limit of ten miles per hour for cars passing through the town on the ground that this would create an absolute right for cars to travel at this speed. That, of course, is nonsense. The plain meaning of the limitation is this: in no circumstances must you travel at a greater speed than ten miles ; it may be the case that you ought to limit yourself to three or four. It is obvious that a driver who enters tl e streets of a town with a restriction to ten miles is more likely to be moderate than one who is nominally free to travel at twenty.