This Day in History: 1940-08-19
Recorder Frank J. Young declared the days of kerosene headlights dead in Mahwah. Two Nutley, NJ men were fined $5 and $2 costs for operating 1926 trucks at night with only kerosene lamps as warning lights. Police Chief Charles E. Smith signed the complaint. Fred C. Worth of the trucking company, who ordered the men to make the trip from his Newark branch to Newburgh, argued that the lamps were original equipment and that the vehicles had passed the State inspection. He said that he had been told by State authorities that he could operate the trucks at night if he did not go over twenty miles an hour. Young rejected the argument. He said that State regulations required headlights to be visible from a distance of 75 feet. Both sides agreed that they could not be seen past 40 feet. Young declared the transport vehicles a “menace”. Chief Smith said he had come upon the trucks at 3:10 AM on the main highway through town (then called Route 2), seemingly without lights. The Nutley men pleaded not guilty, but paid the fines. (Bristow)