1901: A First-of-a-Kind Speed Limits Law is Adopted in Connecticut

May 21, 1901

In response to the steady increase of automobiles on its roads, the state of Connecticut enacted a pioneering speed limits law. This law required that automobiles travel no faster than 12 miles (19.3 kilometers) per hour within cities and 15 miles (24.1 kilometers) per hour on roads elsewhere. The law also required automobile drivers to slow down whenever they approached or passed horse-drawn vehicles — or to come to a complete stop if it appeared that the automobiles were scaring the horses.  Drivers exceeding the speed limits or violating other provisions of the law could be fined up to $200.  

The bill for this law had been submitted by state legislator Robert J. Woodruff (1874-1958), a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives. His own proposed speed limits were actually lower than those ultimately approved by the Connecticut General Assembly.  

Speed limits had been around and applied to non-motorized transportation as far back as colonial times.  In addition, there were already speed limits for automobiles in effect in various other jurisdictions in the United States by the time that Connecticut passed its own law. The first known official speeding infraction in the nation for an automobile took place two years earlier in New York City, when a taxi driver was arrested for driving his vehicle 12 miles (19.3 kilometers) per hour on a street where the speed limits ranged from four to eight miles (6.4 to 12.9 kilometers) per hour. The Connecticut law, however, was the first legal measure for automobile speed limits that applied to an entire state rather than just a particular region in it. 

Statewide speed limits were not Connecticut’s only “first” when it came to automobiles in the United States. In 1937, Connecticut became the first state to issue permanent license plates rather than require that such items be replaced with new ones every year.

(The accompanying photo from the early 20^th century depicts someone driving a 1901 Kidder Steam Runabout, an automobile that was manufactured by the New Haven-based Kidder Motor Vehicle Company.)

Photo Credit: Public Domain

For more information on Connecticut’s groundbreaking 1901 speed limits law, please check out https://www.newstimes.com/local/article/Connecticut-s-speed-limit-was-created-120-years-16192169.php and https://todayincthistory.com/2022/05/21/may-21-not-so-fast-americas-first-speed-limit-law/