On this day in 1901, Connecticut becomes the first state in the U.S. to enact a law regulating motor vehicles. It limited their speed to 12 mph in cities and 15 mph on country roads. Speed limits had been established earlier in the United States, but only for non-motorized vehicles. In 1652, the colony of New Amsterdam (presently New York) issued an order stating that “No wagons, carts or sleighs shall be run, rode or driven at a gallop,” or else the driver would incur a fine of no less than “two pounds Flemish.” In 1899, the New York City cabdriver Jacob German was arrested for driving his electric taxi at 12 mph. The path to the law begin enacted in 1901 began when Representative Robert Woodruff submitted a bill to the State General Assembly proposing a motor-vehicles speed limit of 8 mph within city limits and 12 mph outside of the limits. The law passed in May 1901 specified higher speed limits but required drivers to slow down when approaching or passing horse-drawn vehicles...

Does it annoy you when someone in front of you walks at a snail's pace? How about when you're walking down the stairs and could hear someone on a floor above literally running down the stairs, making you feel as if he'll eventually trample over you? Both annoy me to no end. The former is especially irritating when it's a group of people walking slowly, as it makes it even harder to wriggle ahead of them. You would think that by politely saying "excuse me," they'd get the point and out of the way. Unfortunately, this doesn't always work. People either ignore you, or are too immersed in conversation to attend to you. As for the latter, once the person catches up to me, I immediately put on the brakes and let him pass. Feeling as if someone is running behind me full-speed is just unnerving. You wonder, "Who the hell is that?" "Is it Brian in accounting, or a thief trying to make off with 30 grand?" Similar situations often play...