By 1908, thousands of cars had hit the streets in major cities and Detroit was the first to install crosswalks, lane markers and traffic signals. The left-hand turn signal was unknown. In 1909, there were 200,000 vehicles in the U.S. By 1916, there were 2.25 million.
According to the Detroit News, in 1917, there were 65,000 vehicles on the road resulting in 7,171 accidents and 168 fatalities, three-fourths of which were pedestrians. Children were struck and killed as they played in the street. It was common for 14-year-olds to drive delivery vans. In the 1920s, the article said, 60 percent of the fatalities from automobiles were children under 9.