𝗢𝗻 𝗢𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟭𝟰𝘁𝗵, 𝘄𝗲 𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗯𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗶𝗿𝘁𝗵𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿, 𝗘𝗹𝘄𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗛𝗮𝘆𝗻𝗲𝘀, 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 “𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁𝘀”….𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗽.
In 1895, Elwood Haynes and the Apperson Brothers constructed the Pioneer II, a new automobile that incorporated improvements to the original “horseless carriage” design. They built the new car with the intention of participating in that year’s Chicago Times-Herald Race, which was notably the first automobile race held in the United States.
While driving the Pioneer II down Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Mr. Haynes was stopped by a policeman on a bicycle and received the first ever traffic violation. Haynes stated, “I was riding down Michigan Avenue, intending to drive to the central portion of the city, and had scarcely proceeded more than six or eight blocks, when I was accosted by a policeman who ordered me to leave the boulevard at once, as nothing like "horseless carriages" were permitted. I remonstrated with him ‘what harm the machine could do to the boulevard, since it was equipped with rubber tires and made but little noise’. He simply replied that it was "Arders, Sir," so I could do nothing, but obey.”
This violation would not be Elwood Haynes’ last encounter with the police. In 1908, Haynes, driving in his original Pioneer, led a parade of 2,000 cars down Broadway Avenue in New York City to commemorate the ten-year anniversary of the invention of the automobile.. On his way to the parade, Haynes was unaware of the city's newly-established speeding laws, and a police officer arrested him for “fast driving” and “driving a machine without a number”. A magistrate later realized Haynes was the leader of the parade and dropped the charges. Haynes was proud of the fact that his fourteen-year-old Pioneer, "now little more than a relic," could travel fast enough to warrant a speeding charge. After the return home, he assured his doubting Kokomo friends that "It was for sure enough an arrest ... by a real policeman."
Whether he was re-defining the rules–of-the road or inventing practical tools that improve our everyday lives, Mr. Haynes established many “Firsts”; not only as the “Father of the Automobile”, but as Elwood Haynes, the teacher, scientist, metallurgist, industrialist, and philanthropist. Who would have ever thought that the man who was aptly given the title of Kokomo, Indiana’s “First Citizen” would be such a rebel?
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