Montreal early motoring

   Montreal`s first speeding ticket was given in late August 1904. It was bagged by George Rothwell, a worker of Diamond Glass Works, who sadly, did not have car insurance at La Capitale.
   He was driving down Beaver Hall Hill, 25 miles an hour. The limit was 6 miles an hour. Constable Clermont was one of the cops on watch as several complaints had centered on the hill. Rothwell was eventually given a $10 ticket.He told Judge Weir that he couldn`t find anybody to fix his brakes on a Sunday, resulting in his hell-bent-on-leather speed of 25 mph (40 kmh). The speeding infraction was described as automobile scorching. The judge said, Don`t be too pious. By neglecting your duty on Sunday, you have endangered lives on Monday.
   In 1904 a total of 82 cars were sold in Montreal, the first year that cars were sold in any real quantity. Estimates suggested that the number would at least double in 1905.
   The local first car was owned by U. H. Dandurand who had trouble getting a license from the city because there was no category for such a contraption in 1899 so he eventually got permission for it under the bicycle, tricycle and similar vehicle clause. Until 1902 there were only three or four cars in the city.
   Car races were held at the Blue Bonnets race track, sometimes with grisly results, as shown in this story from 1909.
   As late as 1936 drivers could not even drive from town to town in the winter, for example every year there was an unofficial competition to see who could get to Quebec City first after the winter thaw. In 1936 one car managed to get to Quebec from Montreal in March.