Bike Snob NYC had a link to an interesting article: The Dangers of Cycling (pdf link) from an 1896 issue of the Lancet.

It’s an interesting, albeit a little discouraging read. While lots has changed, much has remained the same. The hazards of inexperienced cyclists, wet streetcar tracks, and even angry taxi drivers remain very much present. And even the attitude of drivers hasn’t changed one bit:

Drivers of light private vehicles again frequently show the utmost contempt for the cyclist whom they seem to think has no right whatever to the use of the road. This feeling on the part of drivers often shows itself against pedestrians and it cannot be too frequently pointed out that the road is not the exclusive property of the drivers of horses and carts.

In fact, perhaps the only thing that changed is that the cars got heavier and faster with big heavy doors that can fly open into your path at any time.

The more things change, the more they stay the same?