The First Driver Arrested For Speeding Was Traveling 12 Miles Per Hour
Photo credit: gizmodo.com
On May 20, 1899, 26-year-old Jacob German was the first motorcar driver arrested for speeding. Officer John Schuessler (aka The Scorcher’s Terror) was renowned for chasing down and arresting those in horse-drawn carriages and on bicycles speeding on the streets of Manhattan.
German worked for the Electric Vehicle Company, a taxi service with an all-electric fleet. He was doing 19 kilometers per hour (12 mph) at the time he was spotted by Officer Schuessler of the Bicycle Squad of New York. At the time, New York laws forbade drivers from exceeding 13 kilometers per hour (8 mph) on roads and 6 kilometers per hour (4 mph) when going around corners.
Schuessler went after German’s car with his bicycle and arrested the lawbreaker. Reporting the news, The New York Times wrote that German was traveling at “breakneck speed” and “so reckless a rate.” German did not get a ticket for speeding, but he spent some time in jail.
Sounds pretty crazy by today's standards, doesn't it? Certainly made sense at the time though.
Coffee out on the patio, but you already knew that...right?
