The death of Bridget Driscoll (c. 185117 August 1896) was the first recorded case of a pedestrian killed in a collision with a motor car in Great Britain. Driscoll, in the company of her teenage daughter May and her friend Elizabeth Murphy, was crossing Dolphin Terrace in the grounds of the Crystal Palace in London when she was struck by a car belonging to the

Anglo-French Motor Carriage Company Anglo-French (or sometimes Franco-British) may refer to: *France–United Kingdom relations *Anglo-Norman language or its decendants, varieties of French used in medieval England *Anglo-Français and Français (hound), an ancient type of hunting d ...

that was being used to give demonstration rides. One witness described the car as travelling at "a reckless pace, in fact, like a fire engine". Although the car's maximum speed was , it had been limited deliberately to , the speed at which the driver, Arthur James Edsall of

Upper Norwood Upper Norwood is an area of south London, England, within the London Boroughs of Bromley, Croydon, Lambeth and Southwark. It is north of Croydon and the eastern part of it is better known as the Crystal Palace area. Upper Norwood is situated ...

, claimed to have been travelling. His passenger, Alice Standing of

Forest Hill Forest Hill or Forrest Hill may refer to: Places Australia * Forest Hill, New South Wales, a suburb of Wagga Wagga * Forrest Hill, New South Wales, a suburb of Albury * Forest Hill, Queensland * Forest Hill, Victoria ** Forest Hill Chase Sh ...

, alleged he modified the engine to allow the car to go faster, but another taxicab driver examined the car and said it was incapable of exceeding because of a low-speed engine belt. The collision happened just a few weeks after a new Act of Parliament had increased the speed limit for cars to , from 2 miles per hour in towns and 4 miles per hour in the countryside. The jury returned a verdict of "accidental death" after an inquest lasting some six hours. The

coroner A coroner is a government or judicial official who is empowered to conduct or order an inquest into Manner of death, the manner or cause of death, and to investigate or confirm the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead within th ...

, Percy Morrison ( Croydon division of

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

), said he hoped "such a thing would never happen again". The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents estimated 550,000 people had been killed on UK roads by 2010.

References

External links

History of Road Safety
{{DEFAULTSORT:Driscoll, Bridget 1851 births 1896 deaths Accidental deaths in England Deaths by person in London 19th-century Irish people 19th-century Irish women Pedestrian road incident deaths Road incident deaths in London

See also

References

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