Road warriors

"Toot toot. Good roads. Are you for good roads?"

Automobile owners all over Salt Lake City and Ogden found this message on a placard tied to their cars in the summer of 1908. It was an invitation to join the Salt Lake Automobile Club at Lagoon on July 8, to talk over the issue of bad roads.

Certainly roads were a problem for every motorist back then. In 1908, there wasn't a mile of paved highway beyond any city limit sign in the state of Utah.

The automobile had been born into a world that wasn't prepared to receive it. Roads were often no more than trails worn in the earth by wandering pioneers. The only place to buy gasoline was in paint shops and hardware stores. And few people had a place to store their "benzine buggies."

The Salt Lake Automobile Club -- now AAA Utah -- was formed to meet some of those needs. The club is marking its 100th anniversary this year.

Although the first automobile to be seen on the streets of Salt Lake City came in April 1899 (a 2-cylinder Winton owned by Salt Lake Hardware vice president George Airis), it wasn't until 1903 that local drivers got organized. By then, there were 20 autos loose on the streets. And nearly all 20 owners formed the fraternity. They could talk cars, take trips and curse the roads. On the practical side, club members began to look for a place to store their cars and gasoline.

The year 1903 also brought the first Salt Lake ordinances regulating autos. The speed limit was set at 8 miles per hour -- and no more than 4 mph at crossings. (Leroi Snow, son of LDS Church President Lorenzo Snow, was the first to be arrested for "automobiliousness," i.e. speeding, on the day the ordinance was signed by the City Council.)

Right away, the club began a quest to improve road conditions. Political leaders were opposed to the cost. Farmers felt that improved roads would only serve as a speedway for "scorchers," as speeders were called in the early 20th century.

But by 1908, change was coming. On that long-ago afternoon at Lagoon, speakers insisted good roads would benefit everyone. According to the Salt Lake Herald, "City, county and state officials, who were guests of the Salt Lake Automobile Club, were carried to the Lagoon in autos and the drivers took ample care that the shortcomings in the road should be realized by the passengers."

At the Lagoon rally, Gov. John C. Cutler pledged to support good roads. During the 1909 Legislature, the State Road Commission was formed and the state began licensing automobiles to raise money for roads.

William D. Rishel, the sports editor of the Salt Lake Herald, also supported the auto club from the first. Since anything pertaining to automobiles was considered sport, the auto club came under his coverage.

Rishel was fascinated with anything on wheels. He organized the Utah section of a cross-continental bicycle relay sponsored by William Randolph Hearst in 1896. As a result, Rishel became known around the country as "the Desert Bedouin of Hearst's Bicycle relay race." A decade later, motorists from around the country were writing to Rishel, asking him to draw them a map for traveling through the West. In August 1909, Rishel lost his job at the Salt Lake Herald when the paper merged with the Intermountain Republican.

Rishel describes what happened next in a book called, "Wheels to Adventure":

"From the day the Herald blew up, I plunged into the automobile game and found myself right at home." Late in the year he helped organize the Utah Automobile Dealers Association and then managed Utah's first automobile show in February 1910.

The Salt Lake Automobile Club was affiliated with the American Automobile Association by the time Rishel was elected manager in May 1910. With Rishel's arrival, the Automobile Club of Utah (as it was now known), began to offer more services for local motorists and tourists.

Rishel began providing maps upon request. By 1912, the auto club had established a touring bureau to help the growing number of "daredevils" on cross-continental trips. Rishel supplied these tourists with maps and road logs he created himself.

At the end of 1918, Utah had more than 27,000 autos. That year, the club reorganized as the Utah State Automobile Association. Rishel continued to publish his maps yearly in a book titled "Rishel's Routes."

Armed with detailed maps, auto travelers were also guided by warning signs and directional markers erected by the club. For those plagued with the fear of getting lost in the desert, these road signs were a welcome sight.

By 1927, Utah began implementing the new U.S. Highway numbering system. Familiar auto club markers were replaced by route shields bearing numbers such as 89, 91 and 40.

Pavement became a common sight along the main highways in Utah as federal funds and various automobile taxes supplied the cash. By 1940, nearly 50 percent of Utah's main highways were smooth ribbons of pavement. The auto club continued to provide services to motorists, such as emergency road service (added in 1927) and accident insurance (added in 1930). The club also continued to provide detailed route maps, now known as "triptiks."

Steve Zoumadakis, AAA Utah general manager from 1960 to 1994, said that back in the 1950s and '60s, "This was a nation becoming a nation on wheels." As a result, motorists needed more highways and highway safety. AAA was instrumental in creating legislation that resulted in our national highway system.

Last June, AAA Utah offered to replace dangerous mercury switches found in the hood and trunk latches of Utah cars. "I think safety is the biggest contribution we've given," said Rolayne Fairclough, public affairs officer at AAA Utah. One hundred years after its creation, the auto club in Utah is still looking out for the needs of the motorist.

E-MAIL: johnc@desnews.com

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