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question000·

If the automobile was invented today it would be owned by the largest conglomeration of horse breeders.

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Henry Ford had to fight what was essentially a patent troll when he started his motor company.

https://www.fool.com/investing/general/2012/11/05/the-origin...

I remember reading that at the beginning,there was a requirement for a person to walk ahead of an automobile and alert others that it's coming. It was related to horse industry lobbying too.

> there was a requirement for a person to walk ahead of an automobile

Yes. In the UK this requirement lasted until 1896 when it was removed by an act of Parliament [0]

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locomotives_on_Highways_Act_18...

The 1865 "Red Flag Act" "required all road locomotives, which included automobiles, to travel at a maximum of 4 mph (6.4 km/h) in the country and 2 mph (3.2 km/h) in the city, as well as requiring a man carrying a red flag to walk in front of road vehicles hauling multiple wagons.

The 1896 Act removed some restrictions of the 1865 act and raised the speed to 14 mph (23 km/h). "

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

There were similar debates in the 90's when the first modern electric cars came out, regarding the fact that they were very silent compared to other cars and could cause pedestrians to cross the road without realizing a car was coming. Some suggested to add an artificial noise for added safety.

Tbh I had at least a few situation where I was nearly hit by an electric car because I assumed there were no traffic around. admittedly, I was jaywalking too.

And you'd start it by sticking your hand out of the window and slapping the side with your buggy whip.

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