Sept. 10, 1897: The first ever drunk-driving arrest is made in London

Friday 10 September 2010

On Sept. 10, 1897, London cab driver George Smith crashed his vehicle into a building and was arrested when police suspected he was intoxicated. The first person ever to be charged with drunk driving, Smith pled guilty and paid a small fine. The Licensing Act of 1872, passed into law by Parliament, forbade intoxication “while in charge on any highway or other public place of any carriage, horse, cattle, or steam engine.” The first drunk driving law in the U.S. went into effect in 1910.