Looking at old photographs of accidents offers a glimpse into a different time, showing the risks people faced with the transportation technology of the past. These images, captured years ago, depict scenes involving early automobiles, bicycles, trains, and even horse-drawn vehicles that met with mishap.
The scenes recorded in these photographs reveal details about the vehicles themselves. You see the design of early cars before modern safety features existed, showing simpler bodies and structures. Train engines appear massive and heavy, highlighting the forces involved in a derailment. The photos also show the materials used in horse-drawn carriages and early cycles, illustrating how they might break or deform in a collision.
These pictures serve as a historical record of transportation safety – or the lack of it – in earlier eras. Before traffic laws were standardized or extensive safety engineering was in place, travel carried different kinds of risks. These photos starkly show the consequences when things went wrong with the available technology and infrastructure.
