First Casualty of Self-Driving Cars

In my book ‘Slingshot’, I made mention of the first known casualty of the automobile. The person in question was Bridgett Driscoll, who was struck by a vehicle at Crystal Palace, England in 1986 by a car travelling at 4 mph. At the time, people could not conceive that this would not be the first and last of such accidents.  The story is a vivid illustration of the fast pace of progress and paradigm shifts.

I could not help but see the parallels with the recent news of the first fatal incident involving self-driving cars. The context and reactions to this tragic event are highly similar to that at the dawn of the automobile age.

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