This Day in History: On this day in 1899, the first traffic ticket in America was issued to a New York cab driver, Jacob German who was driving a whopping 12 mph down Lexington Street. The story gets stranger. Mr German was chased down for speeding by a policeman on a bicycle. The speed limit at the time was 8 mph between streets, and 4 mph around corners. This was a different time. People regularly jaywalked as that was not yet a crime, and the streets were filled with horse-drawn carriages, people strolling and children playing. The cab driver was driving an electric car. At the time electric vehicles actually outnumbered gasoline ones on the road.
The world's first speeding ticket was issued to Walter Arnold on January 28th, 1896, in the UK for driving 8 mph in a 2 mph zone. Also, as the law demanded, he was supposed to have a man with a red flag precede him.
The first fatal accident involving a gas-powered automobile took place in 1896 at London's Crystal Palace park, when a car travelling 4 mph struck and killed 44-year-old Bridget Driscoll.
The first parking meter was installed in Oklahoma City in 1935, which was followed by the first parking ticket issued to Rev. C.H. North who went inside a store to get change for the meter.
These days, New York City alone issues more than 10 million parking tickets a year.
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