Research shows that personality is an important factor in road safety. This makes a systematic and detailed assessment of personality dimensions all the more important, and this is where psychology comes in.
“Anything but Gentlemen“
On August 17, 1896, Arthur James Edsall demonstrates the advantages of an automobile at a major technology show in London. To this end, he organized a demonstration drive with a Roger Benz – and in the process drove Bridget Driscoll to her death as she was about to cross the road. Eyewitnesses report that Edsall drove the car “at a reckless speed almost like a galloping horse or fire engine” (about 7 km/h). Thus, Bridget Driscoll gained sad notoriety as the first fatality of a traffic accident.
According to lore, The Times later analyzed that “an above-average number of motorists were anything but gentlemen.” The Duke of Beaufort then reportedly gave vent to his contempt, raging “Shoot, shoot all motorists!”
In any case, A.J. Edsall was acquitted after the prosecution, and the investigating officer said at the conclusion of the trial that he hoped such a thing would never happen again.