On this day in 1899, police gave out the first automobile speeding citation in U.S. history—to a New York City cab driver who was traveling 12 miles per hour. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle from Sunday, May 21, 1899 reports, "Bicycle Roundsman Schuessler saw German making twelve miles an hour on Lexington Avenue early last evening ... pursuing the man he saw him round the corner of Twenty-third street, an always crowded place, at the same break neck speed." German was arrested and locked up for the night, and according to the newspaper report, both he and the electric cab company he worked for were "surprised."
The Jalopy Journal
