Have you ever wonder where and when was the world’s first car death? Karl Benz was the first person, who invented the first car powered by gasoline in 1886. At that time the Benz Patent Motorwagen top speed is already 11.81 mph (19 kmh) which is fast enough to hurt a people. However, the first person who died in a car accident according to history was happened on 1869 before Karl Benz’s car was invented.

The first car death involving a car on road traffic occurred on 31 August 1869. An Irish amateur scientist Mary Ward fell off her cousin’s experimental steam car and was run over by it. The car was built by William Parson which is a steam-powered car. Mary Ward has being the first person who died because of a car accident.

First car death in UK

Bridget Driscoll was the first person who passed away in a car accident on the 17^th August, 1896. The 44 year old housewife was travelling from Old Town, Croydon to a folk-dancing display in Crystal Palace. During her way she was hit by a demonstration car driven by Arthur Edsel at Crystal Palace Grounds. The car was travelling at 4 mph and Mrs. Driscoll died within minutes of receiving a serious head injury. However, Arthur Edsel claimed that he had rung his bell. This was the first car death recorded in the history.

First car death in US

The first pedestrian killed by an automobile was Henry Bliss when the accident occurred in 1899 in North America. He was struck by a passing cab when he stepped out of a street car at Central Park West. The cab knocked him down, crushed his skill and chest. Bliss felt unconscious and passed away the next day morning. The cab was an electric-powered car and Henry Bliss’s incident was known as the first person died in a car accident in the U.S.