The end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century. Even then, people are more dependent on horse-drawn carriages than vehicles. After the invention of the engine-driven car, the mode of transportation suddenly began to change. But at that time driving and car had to face many obstacles. The reason is not just the inadequacy or poor condition of the roads. In addition, many more obstacles have been overcome and today’s car and traffic system have come. The problems of the car were more social than mechanical.
The car was a symbol of discrimination
In Brian Lad’s book Love and Hate in the Automotive Edge, he writes,
By 1900, those who owned cars were more or less from wealthy families. From then on, they hired drivers to drive their cars. These hired drivers could never have imagined that they would one day drive a car. Cars began to have an adverse effect on urban life. In the villages of Europe, people thought that the arrival of cars meant that a rich man had come to their village. And seeing motorists running on the road, or getting lost, and seeing the surge, began to frighten them, envy them, and even obey them.
When steam and gas-powered vehicles were used instead of horses, those who could not afford them used to use horse-drawn carriages. The horses in this horse-drawn carriage were frightened by the sound of the engine. He would run when he saw the speed of the car. As a result, a kind of disaster was created. To get rid of this problem, a man named Uriah Smith, who designed the Horse horseless car, had a basic theory of design, the front part of the car would be like a horse. So that the horses of other horse-drawn carriages are not afraid to see it.
Laws and Restrictions
In some places, various rules and regulations for driving were introduced. The Automotive Act was enacted by the British Parliament in 1885. According to this provision, the speed of any vehicle cannot exceed 4 miles per hour. The maximum limit for the city was set at two miles per hour. There were more rules, for example, that no more than three people could sit in the car, and one should always hold a red flag at the front.
This red flag law gradually began to be established in America as well. The law was enacted in 1894 in Vermont. In some cities, driving was banned.
Connecticut first implemented the Speed Limit Act in 1901. The maximum speed of vehicles in the city was 12 miles per hour and outside the city, this maximum was 15 miles per hour. This law seemed very strict at first glance, but it was not so strict at all. Because ordinary cars could not move at a very high speed at that time.
There was no road sign, no traffic system
By 1900, there were about 40 car manufacturers, but at that time there were no road signs, road lights, traffic lights, and even licenses. There was always a hawk on the street. As the number of cars gradually increases, so does the problem. In 1909, the number of vehicles was two lakh. In 1916 it stood at two and a quarter million or two hundred and twenty-five thousand. Summer of 1908, 31 people lost their lives in a car accident!
In Chicago, the notoriety of cars was even greater. A notice was issued by the Chicago Judicial Tribunal entitled ‘Car Mania is a form of insanity’. In some Catholic churches, the clergy spoke of driving insanity. Drivers were presented there as inferior.
Cars were wild beasts to humans
In 1906, the Georgia Court of Appeal ruled in favor of Xenopen Haddy’s Automobile Act. There it was said, the car should be considered like a ferocious animal. And if there is any loss of life or property due to the car, the owner of the car should be identified as an animal and he should be brought to justice.
In 1917, an article was published in Harper’s Magazine entitled ‘Fate and $1,500’. In that writing came the experience of a miserable man whose wife became desperate after buying a car. His wife has been paying fines for various reasons in different places since she bought the car and was pocketing the money. Sometimes to break the fire hydrant on the side of the road, sometimes to break the park installation by driving, sometimes to drive too fast or to shout through the car window.
Accident is unintentional
The death rate due to cars is increasing. There was a lot of writing about this in the newspapers at that time. Even then people did not fully understand the benefits of the car. Because at that time there were no specific rules and regulations regarding driving. Thousands of people are still killed in car accidents every year, but these accidents can be avoided if desired.
Even then there was writing for the car and against the horse carriage. In the 1867’s, 4 people died every week due to horse-drawn carriages. This death toll is even higher than the current car accident mortality rate. Because then there were fewer cars, fewer people.
Mechanical problems of the car
In addition to all these social and legal constraints, there were also mechanical hazards. The tires of the car would get punctured again and again. The steering was not so smooth at that time. Some cars had to be turned by turning the handle to get their hands on it. And the wheels that matched the road conditions were not so well developed. I had to take a lot of things with me before I went anywhere by car. There were no improved windows and glass-like now, nor was there a way to understand the condition of the road before. At that time it was a lot of adventure to travel long distances by car.
At present, you don’t have to worry so much about cars. It is possible to know when, where, and how fast the car is moving from the car. Since the invention of the vehicle tracker, all the news of the car, even the news of the road is now in the pocket mobile phone. At one time, driving in America was a lot of trouble. And now many advanced vehicle trackers have come to Bangladesh. Prohori Vehicle Tracker is now being made all over Bangladesh by Bangladeshi engineers. Even 5 years ago, there was no vehicle tracker manufacturer in the country.
History will change as time goes on. New technology will come and human limitations will be reduced. People become more developed for themselves. And the results spread everywhere.
