He exceeded the speed limit four times, and a policeman on a bicycle followed him.
The arrangement of road traffic was included in the rules already in the 19th century, and this can be known, among other things, from the fact that 127 years ago, on January 28, 1896 to be precise, the world’s first speedster, Walter Arnold, who Caught at 8 miles per hour, i.e. 13 km/h, he was stopped by the policeman who chased him on a bicycle for eight kilometers in Paddock Wood, England – our man was punished for four violations of the law at the same time:
- To use a horseless locomotive on public roads,
- To use a locomotive operated by less than three people,
- For not displaying his name and address clearly on the locomotive, or
- For not adhering to the speed limit – according to the laws of the time, the car could travel at a maximum speed of 2 miles per hour, i.e. 3.2 kilometers per hour (this is approximately the speed at which we drive), and it could only go faster if there was someone waving a red flag in front of it He runs.
Walter Arnold appeared in court two days after the incident, on January 30, where he was found guilty of all four charges. He was fined a total of £47 (that’s about £260 at today’s exchange rate, i.e. about 120,000 Hungarian forints), but only 10 shillings, half a pound, for speeding.
Before the decimal system*, the pound could be divided into several subunits, the most important of which were the shilling and the penny. One pound was equal to 20 shillings, while one shilling was equal to 12 pence, so one pound was equal to 240 pence.
* Converting the currency system (or weights and measures) into units related to powers of 10.
Incidentally, Walter Arnold was associated with a German-made Benz Motorwagen manufactured in 1896, which was much more accessible to the average person, as he was the owner of one of the first car dealerships in the UK, selling classic Benz cars imported from Germany (the predecessor of Mercedes-Benz ), that is, if we think this punishment deserves a great deal of publicity.
In 1896, the speed limit was raised to 14 mph (∼22 km/h) in England, and according to the new rules, even the conductor waving the red flag was dispensed with – and this is exactly what the public celebrates in a photo.
(source: Guinness World Records.com, hotcars.comPhoto: Getty Images)
