Hacker News Reader

I think state of PA tried to ban automobiles by saying they were too dangerous. They said in order to drive a car it should be manned by a driver, a mechanic, one guy to run in front of the car and one guy to walk behind the car and god forbid they see a horse rider they must disassemble that car and hide the parts in bushes until the horse has passed.

View on HN

It was the UK that passed the Locomotive Act, aka the Red Flag Act in 1865, and Vermont passed a Red Flag Law in 1894. Both were repealed in 1896.

Vermont's law required a "person of mature age" to walk an eighth of a mile ahead of the vehicle with a red flag in the day or a red lantern at night.

The UK's law had additional requirements such as the number of people who had to drive the locomotive.

Neither law required anyone to disassemble the locomotive or automobile and hide the parts.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_flag_traffic_laws

Reply on news.ycombinator.com