A Brief History of Driving
The history of the automobile and with it the history of driving dates back to the beginning of the 19th century – in 1808, a French inventor named François Isaac de Rivaz decided to put a hydrogen-fuelled internal combustion engine on a cart and he managed to get the machine moving.
The first gasoline-powered engine used to propel a pushcart was assembled in 1870 by a German inventor called Siegfried Marcus. He continued to refine the engine and in 1880 he presented a vehicle fitted with a four-stroke gas engine, magneto ignition, a sophisticated steering system, brakes and a clutch. His inventions were used and further refined by Nikolaus Otto and Rudolph Diesel. Development continued in several different directions and in 1885 Karl Benz assembled the first automobile powered with gasoline. The mass production of automobiles started in the first years of the 20th century, when the Ford Motor Company started making and selling their Model A, then their world-famous Model T.
As the mass production of motor vehicles made automobiles more affordable, roads, both in the cities and towns and in the countryside became more crowded. New technologic developments increased the autonomy, the capacity and the speed of the vehicles, which caused more accidents and made driving licenses necessary. The first licenses did not require testing, but they were issued for a 5-shilling fee, which was huge money at the time.
The system of road signs also developed over time – the first traffic signs were installed to show drivers the direction of moving, then other rules followed until road rules became integrated into the complex system we know today. Find out all you can, when it comes to driving, check out the different types of education there are, at http://testmasterdrive.jbcdigital.com/littleton/.
