The first person convicted of speeding was going just 8 mph 🚙💨

According to Guinness World Records, the first person to be charged with speeding was Walter Arnold of the English village of Paddock Wood, Kent. On January 28, 1896. Arnold was spotted going 4 times the speed limit in his 19th-century Benz. Since the speed limit at the time was just 2 miles per hour, that meant he was not going too fast by today's standards. The constable had to chase him down on his bicycle, issuing a ticket for £4 & 7 shillings, which is equivalent to approx £480 or around 600USD in today's fiat or 1,366,902 Sats

I always approach these stories with a healthy dose of skepticism, so I did a little digging and also tried to find a photo of what the car might have looked like. What came up in a search were cars called Arnold-Benz. I thought, hang on, that’s the guy’s surname. Coincidence? It turns out, Walter was one of the earliest car dealers in the country and the local supplier for Benz vehicles (that was before Mercedes and Benz merged). He set up his own car company producing “Arnold” motor carriages at the same time. The subsequent publicity surrounding his speeding offence probably wasn’t entirely unwelcome, and it was certainly a game changer for the automobile.

Well, how convenient! As they say any publicity is good publicity.

So, what do you think? A planned publicity stunt way back in 1896?