Speed limits were first enforced in the United Kingdom under the notoriously strict Locomotive Act of 1865, which capped the blindingly fast pace of early motorized vehicles at a…

A closer look

Speed limits were first enforced in the United Kingdom under the notoriously strict Locomotive Act of 1865, which capped the blindingly fast pace of early motorized vehicles at a breathtaking two miles per hour in towns and cities. To make matters infinitely more embarrassing for the unfortunate drivers, the law mandated that a person had to physically walk at least sixty yards in front of the vehicle while waving a large red flag to warn pedestrians and horses of the impending mechanical doom. This brilliant piece of legislation essentially guaranteed that driving a car was slower, louder, and vastly more annoying than simply walking to your destination in the first place. It was entirely lobbied for by the powerful horse-drawn carriage industry, who correctly identified cars as a major threat to their monopoly. Today, we still suffer from similar artificial bottlenecks, except now the guy with the red flag is just an endless string of orange construction cones