Who instituted the first motor car hire service?
The first MOTOR CAR TO RUN ON THE PUBLIC HIGHWAY
The first MOTOR CAR TO RUN ON THE PUBLIC HIGHWAY in Britain was a 2 hp Benz Velo purchased by coffee-dealer Henry Hewetson of Catford in Mannheim for E. 80, and brought to England in November 1894. For six weeks he drove the car in and around Catford without interference, but was then warned by an Inspector of Police that he would be prosecuted unless he complied with the provisions of the Locomotives on Highways Act 1865, including the requirement that the car should be preceded by a man on foot bearing a red flag.
Hewetson secured the services of two youths, one of whom he employed to ride ahead of the car at some distance on a bicycle and give warning if he sighted a policeman. The other rode in the car, but dismounted on receiving a signal from the first boy, and proceeded to stroll leisurely in front of the vehicle holding aloft a red linen on a pencil until the law was safely out of sight. The USA became the first country with a million cars in 1913.
