by Harmon Jolley
posted June 20, 2009
) Photo by Harmon Jolley Sign at 1600 Central Avenue once read, "Motor Vehicle Inspection Bureau" under "City of Chattanooga." Click to enlarge. |
In the first few decades of motor travel, accidents were caused not only by unsafe drivers but often by faulty mechanical systems. The newspaper pages of those years tell of crashes caused in the Chattanooga area by failing brakes, broken steering linkages, and bad tires. Highways on our mountains and hills were often locations of vehicular accidents.
The Chattanooga Safety Council, a civic group concerned by the growing number of traffic deaths and injuries, was organized in 1924. Its members pressed for improvements to roads, for education of the public, and for enforcement of traffic laws. They also influenced the Chattanooga government to consider launching an inspection program for automobiles.
The August 7, 1938 Chattanooga Times reported the start-up of such a program. Commissioner Eugene Bryan said that a site would soon be named for Chattanooga’s Motor Vehicle Inspection Bureau, more often called the Safety Lane. The commissioner stated, “This is one of the most important safety measures in our program and we are looking forward to a material reduction in the accident rate after it is placed in operation.”
Various sites had been considered – Main Street near the #7 Fire Hall, Eleventh Street across from the Davenport Hosiery Mills (now Chattanooga Times Free Press office), and the east side of Broad Street between First and Second streets. Interestingly, the east side was not paved as of 1938.
The Safety Lane was instead built at 1600 Central Avenue. Funding was aided by the federal government through the WPA. Cost of the Safety Lane was around $12,000 and the facility was planned to handle 500 cars per day. Operation began in 1939, the first year that the Motor Vehicle Inspection Bureau was listed under Chattanooga City Government in the city directory.
The Safety Lane may have had its desired result. Supporters of motor vehicle inspection cheered on January 31, 1941 when Chattanooga was recognized by the National Safety Council as the safest city in the 100,000 to 250,000 population class. The Chattanooga Times reported on February 1, 1941 that the city was on a string of 136 consecutive days without a traffic fatality.
Eli F. Wilson was the Safety Lane’s first manager. He later moved on to other employment. As a curious twist of fate for someone once connected with safety, Mr. Wilson was killed in an accident in 1950 while working for Crisman Hardware. He had delivered a tractor to Haywood Drive off Hixson Pike. The tractor rolled off the flat bed trailer, crushing him.
The cost of an inspection at the Safety Lane in its early years was twenty-five cents. For that price, the automobile was put through a battery of tests. The windshield wipers were checked for signs of being wiped out. Tire tread depth was scrutinized. A device was rolled across the lane in front of the car while the headlights were on. Not only should the headlights be brightly beaming on low and high, but they should be in proper alignment.
The inspector stepped on the gas, and then hit the brakes. The last check was a honk of the horn. If the car passed, then the inspector would moisten an expiration sticker and apply it to the front passenger’s side of the windshield. Drivers had to bring their cars back for inspection every six months.
Going to the Safety Lane as a child with my father was part of my routine that also included stops at various grocery stores, the Milk Jug, and the hardware store. I remember that the expiration stickers had a calendar with a hole punched for the exact expiration date. The shield-shaped stickers also came in various colors, and had a “C” on the top for Chattanooga.
The Safety Lane struggled to keep up with an increasing number of drivers over the years. In the 1950’s, cars would be lined up to Rossville Boulevard and Twenty-Third streets at times. In 1954, a second lane was added, and the number of Safety Lane employees was increased from nine to twelve.
The city leaders wanted the inspection bureau to be self-sufficient, which sometimes meant increasing the charge. In 1961, the fee increased from fifty cents to one dollar. By 1970, it had reached two dollars. The Safety Lane’s sticker also changed that year to include a large number that indicated the month of expiration.
Exactly who should have to go through the automobile inspection was often debated. Some wanted all vehicles operating on Chattanooga streets to be tested. Others wanted the testing only for Chattanooga residents. In 1964, Georgia residents were exempted from the trip to the Safety Lane. In 1972, trucks no longer had to be weighed at the lane.
Even with some of its jurisdiction removed, the Safety Lane had outgrown its home on Central Avenue. On December 4, 1974 the Chattanooga News-Free Press announced that a $3.5 million dollar replacement would be built with help from the federal government on Amnicola Highway at Wisdom Street. That area was becoming an extension of city government offices downtown.
On January 5, 1976 the last vehicle – a pickup truck – rolled through the old Safety Lane. The building then became the home of the sign paint shop of city government.
The new Safety Lane participated in a project of the United States Department of Transportation. The program was called Project Auto-SEE (safety, economy and ecology). A sample of automobiles would go through a more rigorous inspection that included air pollution monitoring – a forerunner of today’s mandatory inspection for Hamilton County’s cars.
The new Safety Lane had not operated very long before a major controversy arose. In 1977, the Chattanooga City Commission passed an ordinance that owners of automobiles with a “4” on their license plate have their cars inspected at the Lane. At the time, Tennessee’s license plates had a numeric prefix indicating the county’s rank in population – Hamilton County was “4.”
Irate county residents took their concerns to the state legislature, which passed an exemption for county residents. The number of cars going through the Safety Lane dwindled, and operational costs became difficult to cover. On March 30, 1983 the Chattanooga Times reported that the City Commission passed on first reading an ordinance to shutter the Safety Lane. Public Utilities Commissioner Jim Eberle, whose department oversaw the Safety Lane, noted, “I think this is the ideal time for the good of the public to close the lane. I was able to keep it (the deficit) down to $12,000 last year, but I just can’t do it anymore.” Joe H. Kelley was the last manager of the Safety Lane.
In January, 1984 the Safety Lane building on Amnicola was transferred to the Chattanooga Police Department and became the Police Annex. In February, 1985 the old Safety Lane on Central Avenue became the new home of #7 Fire Hall, the same fire company which the Lane almost became a neighbor of in its early days. The fire hall was later merged with others into a new fire hall on Main Street. The current status of the old Safety Lane building is unknown, except to say that the building is still standing.
If you have memories of the Chattanooga Motor Vehicle Inspection Bureau – a.k.a. the Safety Lane – please send me an e-mail at jolleyh@bellsouth.net. Also, I’ve searched in vain for one of the old Safety Lane stickers, and considered going to area auto salvage yards to look at windshields. If you have an old Safety Lane sticker, please scan it and e-mail it to me for a future posting in the Memories column.
Now, I’ve got to go get those headlights replaced. While there’s no Safety Lane, there are still police who enforce vehicular regulations!
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