17 August 1896: the motor car claims its first life

The unfortunate Bridget Driscoll of Croydon became the first pedestrian to be run over and killed by a motor car on this day in 1896, as she walked in Crystal Palace Park.

FR Simms at the wheel of a 4hp Cannstatt-Daimler, Crystal Palace © National Motor Museum/Heritage Images/Getty Images
19th-century petrolheads gather in Crystal Palace park to show off their rides
(Image credit: © National Motor Museum/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

On this day in 1896, Bridget Driscoll of Croydon, Surrey, was out for a pleasant afternoon's stroll in Crystal Palace Park with her daughter, May. Unfortunately for the doomed Mrs Driscoll, she would become the first in a very (very) long line of statistics road fatalities.

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Ben Judge

Ben studied modern languages at London University's Queen Mary College. After dabbling unhappily in local government finance for a while, he went to work for The Scotsman newspaper in Edinburgh. The launch of the paper's website, scotsman.com, in the early years of the dotcom craze, saw Ben move online to manage the Business and Motors channels before becoming deputy editor with responsibility for all aspects of online production for The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday and the Edinburgh Evening News websites, along with the papers' Edinburgh Festivals website.

Ben joined MoneyWeek as website editor in 2008, just as the Great Financial Crisis was brewing. He has written extensively for the website and magazine, with a particular emphasis on alternative finance and fintech, including blockchain and bitcoin. 

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