Road accidents in the early days of the automotive industry

Abstract

The first recorded road fatality happened over 140 years ago. Since then, road accidents have become one of the main causes of concern in almost every country in the world. Nowadays, fatal motor vehicle crashes occur at an interval of 50 seconds and injuries happen every two seconds. According to the WHO, the world road death toll is nearly 1.3 million and 20-50 million of people have been badly injured in road accidents and usually require long and expensive treatment. This paper looks at the issue of road accidents in the earliest days of the automotive industry. The article looks at the first laws, which were introduced to improve road safety. Virtually every member of society is somewhat affected by road transport. All traffic participants are at risk of an accident to a certain degree which is why reducing this risk should become a priority.