A Concise History of the Double Yellow Line

When carriages were first used on a large scale in urban areas, the speed of the vehicles combine with the lack of paved surfaces meant that there was no delineation between lanes of traffic in cities. When cars first appeared on the streets, the significant increase in speed of vehicles resulted in an increased amount of serious collisions.

In 1907 in Birmingham, England the local lamp lighter, Thomas Freemont's son was paralyzed in a tragic automobile/carriage accident. The automobile was driving on the incorrect side of the road while attempting to pass a carriage and did not see another oncoming carriage, resulting in a serious collision. After this event, Mr. Freemont began drawing a single yellow chalk line down the center of the road in areas where there was insufficient line of site for passing thus creating a physical division of lanes in these areas.

This practice soon caught on, beginning in neighboring villages, and by 1910, lamplighters in all of central England began to get paid to draw chalk lines in treacherous areas during the day. The summer of 1911 was one of the wettest on record in central England and, as a result, the lines needed to be redrawn daily, not only an inconvenience but an increasing expense for many of the small villages. The rain, not only washed away the chalk lines, but it also resulted in massive potholes and erosion. These two factors were the impetus that began the massive effort to pave roads in cities. Once roads were paved, a single white painted line replaced the chalk markings.

As automobiles began appearing in larger numbers, another problem began presenting itself. Many of the city streets were so narrow that it was common for mirrors on two passing cars to collide and cause damage. In the spring of 1913, Frederick Holmes¹, the Minister of Agriculture, had his mirror knocked off in a minor collision. A few days later at a dinner party, Holmes was discussing this issue to the Martin Hall, the Minister of Transportation, a newly created position. Hall had previously received complaints of a similar nature and decided to act. By placing two lines, spaced 6 inches apart, the incidence of mirror/mirror collisions were greatly reduced and resulted in the double line that we are accustomed to seeing today.

¹Holmes is most notably known for his work leading to the invention of the screw mason jar in 1885, which replaced the clamp-top.