Cars and automobiles and delivery trucks and busses were still new to Paris in 1913 and were causing unanticipated problems in the traffic of the city. In 1900, Paris had three thousand cars. By 1909, the number was fifty thousand and by 1913, the number was one hundred thousand. The Paris Municipal Council had tried to address the ballooning traffic problems and had tried to banish automobiles from some streets in the capital. However there was truly no way to calm the excitement and the love of Parisians for this new mode of transportation. Horrible accidents like the one that is the subject of this blog happened regularly. All this with a “dangerous “ speed of 10 to 15 miles per hour.

(see Rabate, Jean-Michael. 1913:The Cradle of Modernism)