'The History of the Haste-Wagons': *The motor car act (1909) (Vic.), emergent technology and the call for law

View/ Open
Author(s)
Tranter, Kieran
Griffith University Author(s)
Year published
2005
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
This article is concerned with the relationship between emergent technology and the legal response to it. The focus is on the making of the Motor Car Act 1909 (Vic). It is shown that notwithstanding popular anxieties regarding the new 'motors', the Act did not reflect those concerns through speed limits and restrictions. Instead, the Act established a regulatory scheme that was largely pro-motoring. This dissociation between the community's concerns and the legislation is explained through emphasising other factors influencing the Act. In particular, it is suggested that the notion of progress through technology (legislating ...
View more >This article is concerned with the relationship between emergent technology and the legal response to it. The focus is on the making of the Motor Car Act 1909 (Vic). It is shown that notwithstanding popular anxieties regarding the new 'motors', the Act did not reflect those concerns through speed limits and restrictions. Instead, the Act established a regulatory scheme that was largely pro-motoring. This dissociation between the community's concerns and the legislation is explained through emphasising other factors influencing the Act. In particular, it is suggested that the notion of progress through technology (legislating for the future) and the ideal of the regulative state (law as technology) went to the essence of the Act. The article concludes by suggesting that these factors are not just historical and particular to the motor vehicle, but can be identified in other legal responses to technological change
View less >
View more >This article is concerned with the relationship between emergent technology and the legal response to it. The focus is on the making of the Motor Car Act 1909 (Vic). It is shown that notwithstanding popular anxieties regarding the new 'motors', the Act did not reflect those concerns through speed limits and restrictions. Instead, the Act established a regulatory scheme that was largely pro-motoring. This dissociation between the community's concerns and the legislation is explained through emphasising other factors influencing the Act. In particular, it is suggested that the notion of progress through technology (legislating for the future) and the ideal of the regulative state (law as technology) went to the essence of the Act. The article concludes by suggesting that these factors are not just historical and particular to the motor vehicle, but can be identified in other legal responses to technological change
View less >
Journal Title
Melbourne University Law Review
Volume
29
Issue
3
Publisher URI
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2010. The attached file is reproduced here in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher. For information about this journal please refer to the journal's website or contact the author.
Subject
Law