When Roads Were Used For Walking

Before cars took over, drivers who accidentally killed pedestrians were vilified:

"We’re talking less about laws than we are about norms," says Norton. He cites a 1923 editorial from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch – a solidly mainstream institution, as he points out. The paper opined that even in the case of a child darting out into traffic, a driver who disclaimed responsibility was committing "the perjury of a murderer."

Erik Loomis thinks lobbying by the auto companies changed this:

By the 1950s, law placed the burden of suffering on the pedestrian, to the point of light or nonexistent prosecutions for drunk driving, etc., that MADD lobbied so hard against in the 1970s and 80s.