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The world's first car accident happened in Ohio city in 1891. James William Lambert who was an automobile engineer was involved in the first automobile accident in American history. Lambert's vehicle was a single cylinder gasoline powered vehicle, which was driven by himself carrying his friend James Swoveland. Lambert lost control of his vehicle and the vehicle hit the hitching post leaving both of them with a minor injuries.
Portrait of John W. Lambert and view of Lambert and two passengers posing in a Lambert car. Handwritten on front: "J.W. Lambert, 1909. Buckeye Mfg. Co. J.H. [undecipherable], 1908. J.H.C. in Lambert friction drive en route to Bay City. 30 + 3 clincher tires. Removable toneau [sic]." Handwritten on back: "Lambert, John W."
The first recorded pedestrian fatalities by a car came a few years later in 1896, Bridget Driscoll stepped out on the road and was hit and killed by a gas powered Anglo-French model car driven by Arthur Edsell. The car was driven at a top speed of 4 miles per hour, neither Driscoll nor Arthur were able to avoid the collision as Driscoll was " bewildered " by the sight of the vehicle and was frozen in the first place. Arthur was arrested, but the death was termed as an accident and he was not prosecuted. The coroner who examined Driscoll's dead body is famously quoted as saying that he hoped " such a thing would never again. "
The first driver death in a car accident happened in 1898, when a man and his son were driving from Brighton to London. Near the end of their trip, father lost control of his vehicle while driving down a hill. They crashed through the fence and the driver was thrown out of his seat and injured his leg, the son was not even injured while the father had amputate his leg by the surgeons. After surgery, he remained unconscious and died the next day.
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