Cars and Driving Trivia

In 2000, women influenced 80% of all new car purchases, bought 60% of the new cars and spent over $65 million on new cars and trucks.

The Cadillac was named in honor of Antoine de Lamothe-Cadillac, the first governor of Louisiana and founder of Detroit, Michigan.

Cadillac was the first can manufacturer to develop the automatic starter. They made this invention a priority after a Cadillac executive stopped to help a woman whose car had stalled. When he cranked the starter, it slipped out of his hand and hit him in the jaw. His jaw was broken and became infected. He died of the infection.

The average car has about 3,000 feet of electrical wiring.

It would take over four years, driving at 100 mph, to cover every stretch of road in the US.

The first traffic fatality in the Western Hemisphere occurred in September, 1899. Henry H. Bliss got off a streetcar at 74th Street and Central Park West, in NYC and was struck by an automobile. He died the next morning. Prior to his death, there were two fatalities in Europe. In 1896, Bridget Driscoll was struck and killed by a car at Hyde Park Corner in London. In 1869, Mary Ward was hit by a steam powered car in Ireland.

Airbags explode at a speed of 200 mph.

The average speed on an interstate highway during rush hour is 35 mph.

In 1994, new cars emitted cleaner air than the air in Los Angeles.

You can expect to spend about two weeks of your life sitting at traffic lights.

In 1910, Harry Houdini taught himself to drive so he could get to a remote air field in Australia where he became the first person to solo pilot a plane. He never drove again.

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway was the first automobile race track in the US. I had 3,000,000 cobblestones for its track.

Due to the Faraday Effect, you are pretty safe if your car gets struck by lightening. The electricity will dissipate over the whole area of the car in circles.

In 2003, in the US, almost once every minute, someone is killed in an alcohol related accident. The total was 17,013.

Hong Kong has the most Rolls Royces per capita.

In 1916, 55% of the cars in the whole world were Model T Fords.