The Locomotive Act was an act (actually a series of acts) of British parliament to organize road traffic for self-propelled machines in Britain during the second half of the 19th century. It is also known under the name Red Flag Act. Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ...

• The Locomotive Act 1861: limited the weight of steam engines to 12 tonnes and imposed a speed limit of 10 mph (16 km/h) or 5 mph (8 km/h) in towns.
• The Locomotive Act 1865: set a speed limit of 4 mph (6 km/h) in the country and 2 mph (3 km/h) in towns.
• The Locomotive Act 1865: provided for the then famous "man with a red flag". Walking 60 yards (55 meters) ahead of each vehicle, a man with a red flag or lantern enforced a walking pace, and warned horse riders and horse drawn traffic of the approach of a self propelled machine.
• The Locomotive Amendment Act 1878: the red flag was made optional under local regulations, the distance of the warning was reduced to 20 yards (18 meters).

Intended to protect railroad interests, an unintended consequence of these Acts was the slowdown of technological progress and dimished opportunities for industry in Britain. Unintended consequences can be either positive, in which case we get serendipity or windfalls source of problems, according to the Murphys law definitively negative: perverse effect, which is the opposite result to the one intended The Law of Unintended Consequences holds that almost all human actions have at least...

External links

• Short overview