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150 Years Ago, the First Fatal Car Crash Took Place in Ireland

On August 31 this year, it will be 150 years since the first recorded fatal crash. The car in question was an 1860s Rickets steam carriage and the victim was a famous astronomer and naturalist, Mary Ward.
An 1860s Rickets steam carriage of the kind that killed Mary Ward 9 photos
Photo: ageofsteam.wordpress.com
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It happened on August 31, 1869, when Mary Ward and her family were on vacation at her cousin’s home, Science Direct says. The cousin’s sons proposed a ride around the countryside in their homemade car, a steam carriage, and everyone jumped at the chance of spending such a fun afternoon.

At the time, it was believed that steam cars were the future, so many had popped up around the country, with wealthier families. However, the 1865 the Red Flag Act imposed a speed limit of 4 mph for the countryside and 2 mph for towns, because the heavy iron wheels of the steam cars were causing too much damage. Their popularity decreased, but many families still had homemade versions in their barns.

The one that killed Ward was one of those. At a bend, she was thrown off the car and run over with its heavy iron wheels. By the time a doctor living nearby got to the scene, she was bleeding from the ears and was pronounced dead; the cause of death was listed as a broken neck.

Ward became the first ever recorded fatality of a motor vehicle, but her legacy is far more impressive. She was a renowned astronomer and active naturalist, an author and a very accomplished drawer, and a mother of 8 to boot. For a woman in the Victorian era to have so many accomplishments, it was very very rare – almost unheard of.

Ward came from a family of scientists, so her home education differed from that of the regular Victorian girl. When her father bought her her first microscope, she started learning on her own everything she could about things that interested her. She never went to university because women weren’t allowed access to superior studies, but she was still able to publish 5 books mostly on microscopes, all of them illustrated by her own drawings.

Ward was one of the three women on the mailing list for the Royal Astronomical Society, the other two being Queen Victoria and scientist Mary Somerville. She was 42 when she died.
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About the author: Elena Gorgan
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Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends.
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