We think you're near Los Angeles

May 20, 1899 New York cabbie first to be arrested for speeding

Marguerite Dunbar's photo
NY Taxi Examiner

Ford Crown Victoria Stretch, made exclusively for cabs
 

Wednesday, May 20th of this year marks the 110th anniversary of the first known arrest for speeding. Jacob German, a New York taxi driver, was arrested in 1899 after being caught doing 12 mph on Lexington Avenue.

German drove for the Electric Vehicle Company. The company had been founded by Henry G. Morris and Pedro G. Salom. In 1897, the company leased its cabs in New York City, according to John B. Rae, Associate Professor of History at MIT in his essay The Electric Vehicle Company: A Monopoly that Missed.

The first taximeter was invented in 1891, and the name "taxicab" was coined using "taxi" from "taximeter" and "cab" from "cabriolet," a horse-drawn carriage in which the driver stands in the back. 

In the early 1900’s Harry N. Allen imported gas-powered taxicabs from France with a new type of taximeter. He conducted a survey that seemed to show that yellow was the most visible color and painted his cabs yellow. In 1907, his cabs were the first to resemble the yellow cabs of today.

Advertisement

, NY Taxi Examiner

Marguerite Dunbar grew up in New York City. She writes about her adventures in the city and misses checker cabs' fold-down jump seats she used as a child. She currently resides in Greenwich Village. She can be reached at catdunbar@yahoo.com.

Don't miss...