Almost 41 million speeding tickets are issued per year in the United States. That equates to around one being issued each second. With one in every six Americans having been on the receiving end of one at some point in their driving careers and some tickets amounting to more than the average person makes in a month (or even a year in some rarer cases), it makes one wonder what unlucky soul was the recipient of the very first speeding ticket in the world.
There is some debate as to who the very first speeding ticket was issued to. It really comes down to a matter of definition and how you define “ticket.” Although there was a case where someone was fined for speeding, they were not issued a paper ticket, and so begins the debate.
Let’s take a closer look at the story of the world’s first speeding ticket.
The First Fine
The first fine for speeding was given back in 1896 on January 28th to a Mr. Walter Arnold. He was driving through Paddock Wood in Kent (UK) and going just 8 MPH. Despite the seemingly low speed, Arnold was actually going four times the legal limit at the time.
At the time of the offense, the limit was just 2 MPH, and even then, you were asked to have an accompanying flagger who walked ahead of your vehicle to warn on-comers about your approach. When the police constable noticed Arnold “flying by,” he jumped on his bicycle and gave chase.
As the average walking speed is between 3-4 MPH and average biking speed is 12-18 MPH, one would think that it shouldn’t take too long for the police to catch up to Arnold. However, the chase lasted a full five miles before the man was caught, after which he was sent immediately to a judge, who fined him one shilling.
Although probably none too pleased with the fact that he had to pay, the case actually helped Arnold in his business. As the owner of one of the first car dealerships in the UK, he made his living selling Benz classic cars (the predecessor of the Mercedes-Benz maker) he imported from Germany. It was in one of these cars, modified by his own company and called an “Arnold Motor Carriage,” that he received his fine for speeding.
The First Ticket
Despite it being several years later, some argue that the first ticket was actually written in 1904 in Dayton, Ohio. Since the citation given to Mr. Harry Myers was an actual written one, it is arguable that it really was the first ticket. The fact that many designers and engineers were situated in Ohio and contributed to the strength of automotive advancement during that time frame may have also helped lend credibility to the claim.
When Harry Myers was given the ticket, he was going 12 MPH in an area with a limit of 8 MPH on straight roads and 4 PM on curves. Myers was overtaken, again by an officer on a bicycle, and handed the first written ticket in history there on West Third Street.
Although it has not been fully confirmed, there are suspicions that the Harry Myers who had the “honor” of receiving that first written ticket was the same Harry Myers who was famous for his acting and directing. A man by the same name was involved with several silent films in the early 1900s. If it truly was the same man, he was famous on more tiers than initially thought!