Alexander Gütermann was the proud owner of a “Benz-Motor-Pferd”,
a belt-driven car. He could afford it - he was the owner of Gütermann
Ltd, a manufacturer of sewing yards and twines and threats. In comparison, if he would have lived today, he would be driving a Tesla. He loved to speed and did
not care much about the maximum speed limit of 6 kilometer per hour. The police
gave him several times an official warning.
That did not stop Alexander to take his car on the sunny afternoon
of May 15, 1895 for a spin in Waldkirch, a small town near Freiburg. He was
happily speeding when the police caught him in the act. So how did the police measure his speed before
radar speed guns were invented? Well, more by keen observation; Alexander was
driving at such a high speed that “curtains of the local pub were fluttering”. The
fiend! He got a speeding ticket of 3 DM, not a small sum at the time. (It was
the daily wage of a miner at the time).
In case you wonder, he never crashed the car. It can still be
admired in the PS.Speicher bicycle
& car museum in Einbeck, Germany. In 2015, it even took part in the
traditional car rally from London to
Brighton.
The original speeding ticket is show below.
