1950 Florida Driver's Handbook

Mr. George E. Petrie, Florida DOT (Retired) found this little gem sitting in a drawer. Most of the rules, wit and wisdom inside are still applicable to today's drivers.

To start right in looking at the book, click (>) here to advance from here into the handbook. Clicking (<<) will return you to this page. Clicking (<) will take you back to the last page you looked at. Clicking (>>) will take you to the end of the book and examples of early 1950's road signs.

The Handbook itself is not dated, but Fuller Warren (D) was the Governor of Florida from 1949 to 1953, and oversaw the completion of a major bridge in Jacksonville during his administration. The bridge that was built to replace that bridge, now part of I-95, still bears his name as the new Fuller Warren Bridge. The handbook is datable by the inclusion of a sign in the back of the book, in the middle of the Driver's Handbook page showing road signs, the one that reads "OPEN RANGE BEWARE OF CATTLE".

One big reason Fuller Warren was a single term Governor is that Florida was a free-range state before his administration. Public lands, including right-of-way, were part of the grazing areas of Florida's rich and politically powerful agricultural interests. They saw themselves as having an equal right to that land as any other citizen of the state. Every year, many people died as a result of animal - automobile collisions, and more people died as the tourist trade boomed along with motor vehicle traffic.

Governor Warren was driving from Tallahassee to a funeral in Crestview on May 2, 1949, when he came upon just such a collision between a truck and a free range horse. The pictures from that incident are on display on this page. Seeing the aftermath, he pushed for closing the roads as open ranges, allowing for the impouding of livestock on the public right-of-way. Fencing started to crop up at the sideof the road along pastures. This stand was not popular with the agricultural interests and Governor Warren only lasted a single term. He did succeed in making driving safer for everyone in Florida.

Click here (>) to move on to the 1950 Florida Driver's Handbook.
Click here (>>) to move on to the end page of the Florida Driver's Handbook.

If you have Questions, Comments, Corrections, or Additions, please E-mail me.

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This page first posted August 13, 2001 by Robert V. Droz.

This page last updated Tuesday, August 14, 2001.

Photographs courtesy Florida State Archives.

Clip Art by Microsoft Design Gallery.

Background - Silver Moon Drive In: Lakeland, Florida. Photography by RVD.