We may not admit it, but we take for granted how or why the car came to be. We typically know very little about its components’ origins. We just simply follow the instructions on how to operate a vehicle without understanding or even thinking about the reasoning behind its formulation.
Do we really know why a road was created? Have we even thought about why the dashboard was even invented? Probably not, it is what it is right? It works, so we just utilize our vehicles as they operate and never question how they came to be.
Here is a list of everyday vehicle usage we surprisingly know little about and may help users appreciate our vehicles even more.
- Why Do We Have Dashboards? Originally, car dashboards were designed to prevent mud from splattering the driver of a horse-drawn carriage and they were made of wood.
- Were Roads Made for Cars? No. Roads were first created for bicycles, not cars.
- Who Created the Windshield Wiper We Use Today? Mary Anderson, was the first inventor of operational windshield wipers, as they were originally too much of a distraction.
- Why Is an Automobile Called a Car? The word “car” is from the Latin Carrum, which originally meant a “two-wheeled Celtic war chariot.” The Latin is further derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *kers-, which means “to run.
- How Did We Steer Vehicles Before the Steering Wheel? The first made cars didn’t have a steering wheel. People had to steer them with a lever.
- Why Do Cars Have Cruise Control? In the 1940s, Inventor Ralph Teetor, created cruise control for cars after becoming frustrated with the way his lawyer would frequently speed up and slow down.
These are just some of the everyday vehicle usage facts we surprisingly know little about, but they are just as interesting to learn since the average American spends 37,935 hours from the time they start driving (approximately age 17) until about the age of 80 behind the wheel of their car.
