A closer look
Bridget Driscoll holds the unfortunate historical distinction of being the first recorded pedestrian killed by a motor vehicle in Great Britain in 1896. She was struck by an Anglo-French motor carriage that was purportedly zooming along at the reckless speed of four miles per hour, driven by an employee offering demonstration rides. Witnesses claimed the driver was enthusiastically modifying the engine's governor to show off, operating the vehicle in a manner that was described as a reckless and furious pace. The coroner at the time famously stated his sincere hope that such a nonsense tragedy would never happen again. Little did that wildly optimistic coroner know that society would eventually decide that constructing massive metal death machines and giving the keys to literal teenagers who are busy texting their friends is just an acceptable daily risk for the convenience of picking up a drive-thru cheeseburger
