cartky.org

Fed up with today's car-clogged streets, I have certainly fantasized about living before the automobile came on the scene. Ahhh...to live at a time when people got around primarily by foot, bicycle, and horse: that must have been a wonderful time to be alive. To breathe clean air not polluted by the emissions of the infernal combustion machines, to walk on streets safe from autombiles that cause innumerable crashes and result in staggering losses of life....it sounds absolutely idyllic. If only I could have been born then....

"From Horse to Horsepower", published in the University of California Transportation Center's Access magazine, is a reality check for those who, like me, imagine that there were no transportation-related problems until the automobile came on the scene. "American cities were drowning in horse manure as well as other unpleasant byproducts of the era’s predominant mode of transportation: urine, flies, congestion, carcasses, and traffic accidents. The situation seemed dire." (page 1)

I was surprised to hear that horses caused traffic accidents; this also didn't figure in my fantasy about life before the automobile. However, the article specifies later:

As difficult as it may be to believe given their low speeds, horse-drawn vehicles were far deadlier than their modern counterparts. In New York in 1900, 200 persons were killed by horses and horse-drawn vehicles. This contrasts with 344 auto-related fatalities in New York in 2003; given the modern city’s greater population, this means the fatality rate per capita in the horse era was roughly 75 percent higher than today. Data from Chicago show that in 1916 there were 16.9 horse-related fatalities for each 10,000 horse-drawn vehicles; this is nearly seven times the city’s fatality rate per auto in 1997. (page 6)

Check it out! It is a very thought-provoking article for anyone interested in transportation.