1st person killed in an automobile accident

Henry Hale Bliss, a 69-year-old real estate dealer, became the first recorded person killed in a motor vehicle collision in the U.S. on September 13, 1899. He was struck by an electric taxi while alighting from a trolley at West 74th Street and Central Park West in New York City. Bliss sustained severe head and chest injuries and died the next day. The taxi driver, Arthur Smith, was charged with manslaughter but was acquitted due to lack of malice or negligence.

On September 13, 1999, a plaque was dedicated at West 74th Street and Central Park West to commemorate the centennial of the death of Henry H. Bliss, the first recorded motor vehicle fatality in the Western Hemisphere. The plaque promotes street and highway safety and memorializes Bliss, who was struck by an automobile after dismounting from a streetcar in 1899. Bliss's great-granddaughter attended the ceremony and placed roses at the spot where he was struck.

‘Here at West 74th Street and Central Park West, Henry H. Bliss dismounted from a streetcar and was struck and knocked unconscious by an automobile on the evening of September 13, 1899. When Mr. Bliss, a New York real estate man, died the next morning from his injuries, he became the first recorded motor vehicle fatality in the Western Hemisphere.[note 1] This sign was erected to remember Mr. Bliss on the centennial of his untimely death and to promote safety on our streets and highways.’