Driving 8 miles per hour above the speed limit is certainly enough to get you pulled over in many areas, especially residential neighborhoods. But what about driving at a total speed of 8 miles per hour (13 km/h)?
That's how fast Walter Arnold was driving his Benz Velo through the English village of Paddock Wood, Kent, on January 28, 1896, when he became the first person charged with a speeding offense.
Arnold wasn’t just a motorist out for a drive, though. He was a supplier of Benz motor vehicles and was in the process of developing the Arnold Motor Carriage, based on the Benz design. His drive through Paddock Wood may have partly been a publicity stunt to attract attention to his business.
The police officer who noticed Arnold’s high-speed joyride was on a bicycle, and it took him five miles to catch up with the offender. Arnold was charged with “using a carriage without a locomotive horse” on a public road, as well as three lesser counts usually applied to horse-drawn vehicles: driving with less than three people, driving without his name and address on the vehicle, and exceeding the speed limit of two miles per hour.
Arnold was found guilty at his court appearance two days later and required to pay 10 shillings for the speeding offense, though, collectively, the fines and fees cost him £4 and 7 shillings, or approximately £260 in today’s money.
A speeding ticket for the record books:
- In addition to drumming up publicity for Arnold’s Benz imports and brand-new Arnold Motor Car, the case likely resulted in the speed limit being raised to 14 miles per hour shortly after.
- Between 1896 and 1898, Benz and his business partner Henry Hewetson created 12 Arnold motor cars, which were based on the Benz Velo with several modifications and a unique engine. The Arnold-Benz became Britain’s first series-produced car.
- In November 1896, six Arnold cars participated in the “Emancipation Run” between London and Brighton to celebrate the Locomotives on Highways Act. The event ultimately evolved into the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run, which is now the world’s longest-running motoring event.
