Executive Order  No. 56: (1st Series) Authorizing operation of certain test cars in excess of 35 m.p.h. speed limit

WHEREAS, there exists a critical shortage of rubber, antifreeze solutions and other articles and materials essential to the effective prosecution of the war; and

WHEREAS, the development and production of adequate substitutes for such articles and materials for use in the prosecution of the war depend on and require the testing of certain of said substitutes by the use of motor vehicles operated under actual road conditions on the highways of the Commonwealth at a speed in excess of thirty-five miles per hour; and

WHEREAS, the speed of operation of motor vehicles, including those which are engaged in the making of such tests upon the public ways of the Commonwealth, is now limited to thirty-five miles per hour; and

WHEREAS, the Government of the United States, acting through the Office of Defense Transportation, and certain persons engaged in the production and testing of said substitutes, have requested that said thirty-five mile per hour speed limit be waived with respect to the operation of motor vehicles engaged in the making of such tests:

NOW, THEREFORE, I, LEVERETT SALTONSTALL, Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, acting under the provisions of Acts of 1941, chapter 719, as amended by Acts of 1943, chapter 3, Acts of 1942, chapter 13, sections 2 and 3, and all other authority vested in me, do hereby issue this order as a measure necessary and expedient for meeting the supreme emergency of the existing state of war between the United States and certain foreign countries.

I.

A "Test Car" is hereby defined for the purpose of this order as any motor vehicle which is operated on the highways of the Commonwealth exclusively for the purpose of testing natural or synthetic rubber tires, anti-freeze solutions or other motor vehicle parts, accessories, equipment, fluids, lubricants, or fuels to be used in connection with the prosecution of the war, in cases where such tests are required by the Government of the United States or any agency thereof to be made at a speed of operation in excess of thirty-five miles per hour.

II.

Every "Test Car" as herein defined is exempted, during the period in which it is engaged in such tests, from the provisions of paragraph 1 of Executive Order No. 8, promulgated March 16, 1942, as amended by Executive Order No. 35, promulgated September 11, 1942, limiting the speed of motor vehicles operated on the public ways of the Commonwealth to thirty-five miles per hour, provided:

A. That the insignia described in exemption order 23-1A of the Office of Defense Transportation (Exemption Order ODT 23-1A), or in any duly authorized amendment thereto or substitute therefor, is displayed in the manner prescribed by said order or by any duly authorized amendment thereto or substitute therefor.

B. That the following documents are carried by the operator of every such "Test Car":

(1) Photostatic copy of said Exemption Order ODT 23-1A, or of any duly authorized amendment thereto or substitute therefor, exempting motor vehicles used in certain tests from the thirty-five mile per hour speed limit.

(2) Photostatic copy of a letter from the military or naval forces of the United States, or a duly authorized agent thereof, authorizing, requiring or requesting the test then being conducted.

(3) Certificate signed by or on behalf of the person for whom the operator is conducting the test, authorizing the operator to conduct such test and stating that said operator is a qualified "test driver" in the employ of said person.

(4) Certificate issued by the Commissioner of Public Safety of the Commonwealth.

III.

Upon written application therefor, the Commissioner of Public Safety of the Commonwealth is hereby authorized to issue certificates for the operation of "Test Cars" to such persons as he may deem proper, provided that the applicant therefor has first complied with the provisions of sections A and B (1), (2) and (3) of paragraph II hereof.

Such certificates shall be subject to such conditions and restrictions as the Commissioner may prescribe and may be revoked by the Commissioner at any time without the assignment of any cause for such revocation.

IV.

Nothing in this order shall be deemed to authorize the operation of any "Test Car" at a speed greater than is reasonable and proper under the particular circumstances, having regard for traffic and the use of the way and the safety of the public.

V.

Nothing in this order shall be deemed to affect or prohibit any prosecution for a violation of Executive Order No. 8, as amended by Executive Order No. 35 pending on the effective date hereof.

GIVEN at the Executive Chamber in Boston, this 18th day of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and forty-three, and of the Independence of the United States of America, the one hundred and sixty-seventh.

By His Excellency the Governor,
Leverett Saltonstall