1886
Crash Notification Systems
According to the magazine/website Mental Floss, it was 1896 when Bridget Driscoll stepped off a London curb and was struck and killed by a gas-powered Anglo-French model car driven by Arthur Edsall. They report, “While the car had a top speed of four miles per hour, neither Edsall nor Driscoll—who witnesses described as ‘bewildered’ by the sight of the vehicle and frozen in place—were able to avoid the collision.”
The first crash notification systems were people running off to fetch a doctor ... a far cry from those like OnStar’s Advanced Crash Notification system, which quickly assesses the seriousness of the event and relays data to emergency services.