The World’s First Speeding Ticket

It’s never a good feeling to see those flashing lights in your rearview mirror, knowing you might be getting a speeding ticket. But how do you think the first person to receive one felt? It’s a safe bet he was very surprised.

The first speeding ticket issued to a motorist took place on January 28th, 1896, in Paddock Wood, Kent, in England. A constable spotted a fast driver named Walter Arnold speeding down the street. Since the constable didn’t have one of the early motorized vehicles, he had to give chase on his bike.

When the constable stopped Arnold after a five-mile chase, he cited him for speeding. Arnold had been going four times over the posted speed limit. While that sounds like a lot, the speed limit at the time was a blistering 2 mph. Arnold was fined a shilling for speeding at 8 mph. Arnold could have avoided the citation, however, since the law stated that a person could go over the 2 mph speed limit if they had someone else in front of them waving a red flag to alert anyone on the street of their breakneck speed. The speed limit was later changed that same year to 14 mph.

Interestingly, Arnold was one of the sons of the William Arnold & Sons company, which later became the Arnold Motor Carriage Company in 1896. They had acquired a license to build Benz automobiles in the United Kingdom in 1895, and Arnold was driving one…