1890 to 1999 Wow!
Have Thing's Changed

1890s First U.S. autos are manufactured.

1895 The only two autos in Ohio crash; one driver dies, becoming one of the first known motor-vehicle fatalities.

1902 Savannah, San Francisco, and Cincinnati adopt 8-mph speed limit.

1903 First Model A Ford.

1908 Model T Ford introduced for $950; within two decades, 15 million will be sold.

1909 Thirty-four states adopt speed limit of 25 mph.

1913 An estimated 4,200 people are killed in car accidents. For the next 19 years, the death toll increases by more than 1,000 a year.
1914 The New York Times estimates that there is one car for every 100 Americans.

1922 Auto fatalities this year reach 14,859, or 21.9 per 100 million vehicle-miles (the rate has since dropped to 1.7).

1924 Herbert Hoover convenes first national conference on street and highway safety.

1928 Higher horsepower is the big trend.

1935 Reader's Digest publishes a powerful essay, "And Sudden Death," which underscores driving dangers.

1936 In its first year, Consumers Union decries auto shoddiness: "Manufacturers have deliberately cheapened their cars so that they will not last too long."

1938 There are 25 million motorists in the U.S.

1942-1946 Because of World War II, autos are not made for domestic use. The national speed limit, 40 mph, is reduced to 35 mph to conserve fuel and tires.

1952 Officials discover that the U.S. armed services have lost more men to auto accidents than combat.

1954 The American Medical Association recommends that automakers install safety belts.

1955 Standard safety features include tubeless tires, sealed-beam headlights, better handling, and sometimes fewer projections and hard surfaces. Still, no manufacturer has made "the slightest gesture toward the installation of seat belts, even as an extra-cost option," Consumer Reports says.

1956 Twenty-six of 39 brands of safety belt fail Consumer Reports' durability test.

1957 Ford cars, advertised to the safety-conscious, sell poorly, prompting the expression, "Ford sold safety while Chevy sold cars." Safety belts are optional in most new cars.

1961 Only 3 percent of the nation's cars have safety belts.

1965 Ralph Nader's book "Unsafe at Any Speed: The Designed-In Dangers of the American Automobile" launches Nader as the nation's best-known consumer advocate.

1974 National speed limit of 55 mph is enacted.

1984-1987 Safety-belt use increases from 14 percent to 42 percent as a result of laws in 31 states. In all states, minimum drinking age is 21.

1987 Federal law allows states to increase speed limit on rural interstate highways to 65 mph.

1990-1992 Safety-belt use increases from 49 percent to 62 percent.

1995 States are allowed to raise speed limits higher.

1996 Motor-vehicle fatalities total 41,907, or 1.7 per 100 million vehicle-miles. Another 3.5 million are injured.

1997 Air bags are required in all cars.

1998 States adopt zero-alcohol-tolerance laws for drivers under 21. Federal legislation is pending that would push more states to adopt laws presuming impairmentfor any adult with a blood-alcohol level of 0.08; in many states, the standard is 0.10.

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