The First Car Accident

The car was one similar to this bad boy. 

On August 17, 1896, Mrs. Bridget Driscoll, 44, became the first pedestrian to be killed by a car.

Mrs. Driscoll, a resident of Croydon, was hit by a demonstration car travelling at four miles per hour. She died within minutes of receiving a head injury.

Coroner William Percy Morrison said he hoped that ‘such a thing would never happen again’ and was the first to apply the term ‘accident’ to violence caused by speed.

Witnesses said that the car, driven by Arthur Edsel, was travelling at a "reckless pace." In fact, it was "like a fire engine in speed."

Mr. Edsel claimed that he had only been doing four mph and that he had rung his bell as a warning. The jury took six hours to reach a verdict that Mrs. Driscoll had died of accidental death.