May 20, 1899: America's First Speeding Ticket, and What It Means for NC Drivers Today

Updated September 5, 2026. The North Carolina penalty section was checked against the April 2026 NC Driver Handbook. It now includes the 30-day license revocation the handbook lists, and a claim about automated speed enforcement that we could not source has been removed.

On May 20, 1899, a New York City taxi driver named Jacob German came down Lexington Avenue at 12 miles per hour. A police officer on a bicycle, John Schuessler, pedaled after him and caught up. German is widely credited as the first person in the United States cited for speeding in a motor vehicle.

That was 127 years ago this week. Cars were so new that the speed limit was the same for horses and automobiles, and the man enforcing it rode a bike. Plenty has changed. Still, if you're sitting in a North Carolina DMV office today waiting for the knowledge test, that afternoon on Lexington Avenue is closer to you than it looks.

The Car, the Cop, and the Cell

German wasn't driving a Model T. The Model T didn't exist yet. His cab was an Electrobat, a fully electric taxi run by the Electric Vehicle Company, and in 1899 electric cabs briefly outnumbered gas-powered cars in New York City. German was a working-class driver doing his job. His job, apparently, involved hustling.

New York's limit at the time was 8 miles per hour on a straightaway and 4 miles per hour around corners. Those numbers were written for horses and simply carried over to cars. So German's 12 mph wasn't a little over. It was 50% over. Officer Schuessler arrested him on the spot and locked him up at the East 22nd Street precinct house.

Historians still argue about whether German got an actual paper ticket or just a night in a cell. Most sources give the first documented paper speeding ticket to Harry Myers of Dayton, Ohio, in 1904. He was also caught at 12 mph, oddly enough. Myers, at least, got to go home that night.

What's Changed in 127 Years

Quite a lot.

• Speed limits. An 8 mph limit on Lexington Avenue sounds quaint now. On a North Carolina interstate today the limit is 70 mph, nearly nine times the speed that got Jacob German arrested.
• Enforcement. No more bicycle chases. NC State Highway Patrol uses radar, lidar, and aircraft.
• The penalty. German went to jail. In North Carolina today, going more than 15 mph over the limit while driving faster than 55 mph is a misdemeanor. The NC Driver Handbook lists a mandatory 30-day license revocation for it, plus 3 license points. The insurance points that follow can push your premium up by 45% or more.

What Hasn't Changed

The thread that runs from 1899 New York to 2026 North Carolina is simple: you still have to know the rules before you're allowed to drive.

Jacob German learned the speed limit the hard way. You don't have to. Before NCDMV hands you a license you sit down at a kiosk and answer 25 questions about speed limits, right-of-way, road signs, school bus laws, and dozens of other specifics from the North Carolina Driver's Handbook. Get too many wrong and nobody locks you up at East 22nd Street. You just go home without a license, wait seven days, and come back to try again.

NC Speed Limits: A Quick Refresher

Since we're on the subject, this is what the North Carolina Driver's Handbook says applies when no speed limit is posted:

• 35 mph inside a municipality (city or town)
• 55 mph outside a municipality
• School zones: as posted, typically 20 to 25 mph while the warning lights are flashing
• Work zones: as posted, with an extra penalty when a sign at the start of the zone announces one

This is exactly the kind of thing the NC DMV knowledge test asks about. Not the parts that feel like common sense. The specific numbers, the exceptions, the “what does this sign mean when it's yellow instead of orange” questions.

Don't Repeat Jacob German's Day

America's first speeding ticket happened because cars were new and nobody had settled the rules yet. The rules are settled now, and they are what stands between you and your license.

Drive Prep NC is built around the specifics the NC DMV actually tests: 327 practice questions across all 11 NC DMV topics, taken straight from the official handbook. Twenty minutes a day on your phone is enough. By the time you sit down at that kiosk, the questions about speed limits, right-of-way, and road signs will look familiar rather than intimidating.

Jacob German never got to study before he hit the road. You do. Download Drive Prep NC and pass the test on your first try.