Judge — November 20, 1915 — page 11: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This Clarence Underwood cartoon satirizes speeding automobiles and traffic safety. Two figures in an early motorcar pass beneath a tree displaying a speed-limit sign reading "SLOW DOWN TO 15 MILES AN HOUR." The chauffeur (driver) tells his passenger "Jimmy" to ignore the limit, boasting "There ain't any cops in sight!" The joke targets both reckless drivers and the enforcement gap of early automobile regulations. The cartoon mocks the attitude that traffic laws exist only when police are present—suggesting drivers routinely violated speed limits when unobserved. This reflects early 20th-century concerns about dangerous driving in rapidly motorizing America, where speed limits were novel and often ignored by the wealthy driving their own vehicles.