FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

  

CAR & DRIVING HISTORY QUIZ

A Twenty Question Brain Teaser from Your Teacher

Meriden , CT - May 23, 2005 - With the summer driving season officially underway, Americans’ love affair with their cars is being put to the test. But for a nation in love, we may not know as much as we think we do about cars and driving. See if you make the grade with this test from Teachers’ Insurance Plan on automobiles and driving history.

1.  Who designed the octagonal Stop Sign?
a.)  A policeman in Detroit MI
b.)  The United States Department of Transportation
c.)  The National Bureau of Standards & Measures
2.  Where was the first traffic signal installed in the United States?
a.)  New York NY
b.)  St. Louis MO
c.)  Detroit MI
3.  When was radar first used to catch speeders?
a.)  1955
b.)  1960
c.)  1965
4.  When was the only highway connecting Alaska to the lower 48 states built?
a.)  1942
b.)  1952
c.)  1962
5.  In which horse-drawn carriage (later a major auto maker) did President Lincoln ride to
     Ford’s Theatre?
a.)  Ford
b.)  Lincoln
c.)  Studebaker
6.  Who received the first patent for a fast-running combustion engine fueled by a
     petroleum product?
a.)  Walter Chrysler
b.)  Gottlieb Daimler
c.)  Henry Ford
7.  How much did the first Model T Ford cost to the consumer?
a.)  $850
b.)  $1,850
c.)  $2,850
8.  When was the first uniform traffic code for the nation created?
a.)  1906
b.)  1926
c.)  1946
9.  How did Genevre Delphine Mudge make driving history in 1898?
a.)  The first woman to start an auto manufacturing company, the Delphine DeLuxe
      Automobile Company.
b.)  The first woman to drive a car.
c.)  The inventor of the “Mudge Rim,” the modern steel wheel.
10.  What was the first state to require a driver’s license?
a.)  New Jersey
b.)  Florida
c.)  Rhode Island
11.  When was the first “vanity” license plate issued and where?
a.)  Connecticut in 1937
b.)  California in 1957
c.)  New York in 1967
12.  How many licensed drivers are there in the U. S.?
a.)  140 million
b.)  190 million
c.)  220 million
13.  Where was the nation’s first full service gas station?
a.)  Pittsburgh PA
b.)  Los Angeles CA
c.)  Bellevue WA
14.  Where is the Museum of Automobile History located?
a.)  Syracuse NY
b.)  Detroit MI
c.)  Omaha NE
15.  When was air conditioning first offered in a car?
a.)  Packard in 1941
b.)  Cadillac in 1950
c.)  Lincoln in 1956
16.  In what year were the first restrictions imposed on auto emissions?
a.)  1963
b.)  1969
c.)  1973
17.  When was the AAA (automobile club) formed?
a.)  1899 in Garden City NY
b.)  1902 in Chicago IL
c.)  1947 in Los Angeles CA
18.  Which U. S. President launched the construction of the interstate highway system?
a.)  Truman
b.)  Eisenhower
c.)  Kennedy
19.)  What state introduced roadside picnic tables?
a.)  Michigan
b.)  New York
c.)  Pennsylvania
20.)  What car was Sean Connery shown driving in the first James Bond film?
a.)  Rolls Royce
b.)  Sunbeam Alpine
c.)  Aston Martin
Bonus Question)  What car did James Bond drive in the Ian Fleming books that formed the basis for the films?
a.)  Aston Martin
b.)  Derby Bentley
c.)  Triumph Herald


ANSWERS
1. a.) One of the most recognized symbols in the world, the octagonal Stop Sign was designed in 1914 when a Detroit MI cop took a square sign and cut off the corners.
2. c.) In 1914 Detroit MI installed a manually operated “stop and go” sign and later that year an electric signal was installed in Cleveland OH.
3. c.) Radar was first used to catch speeders by Indiana police in 1965.
4. a.) 1942
5. c.) On April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln took his last horse-drawn carriage ride to Ford’s Theatre in a Studebaker.
6. b.) German inventor Gottlieb Daimler received the patent in 1883.
7. a.) The 1906 Model T retailed for $850. By 1916 Henry Ford’s improvements to the assembly line enabled the price to drop to less than $400.
8. b.) In 1926 the National Conference on Street and Highway Safety drew up a uniform code of traffic rules, which was eventually adopted by all states.
9. b.) In 1898 Ms. Mudge was the first woman to drive a car. One year later, as the first female race car driver, she was the first woman to have an auto accident.
10. c.) Rhode Island in 1908.
11. a.) 1937 in Connecticut.
12. b.) Approximately 190 million.
13. a.) The first modern gas station opened in Pittsburgh PA in 1913.
14. a.) The largest museum of auto history, with a collection of more than 10,000 items, is in Syracuse NY. (There’s plenty of parking.)
15. a.) Packard offered the first car with air conditioning in 1941.
16. a.) 1963.
17. b.) The AAA was formed in 1902 in Chicago IL.
18. b.) President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
19.) a.) Ionia County engineer, Allan Mackenzie Williams is credited with placing roadside picnic tables along Michigan’s U.S. 16 in 1929.
20.) b.) Although perhaps best remembered for driving an Aston Martin, James Bond’s first drive was in a Sunbeam Alpine in the 1962 film Dr No. The Aston Martin didn’t make an appearance until two years later in Goldfinger.
Bonus) b.) Bond drove a Derby Bentley in the books, which makes a brief appearance in the film From Russia with Love.

If you got…
  • Between 1 and 5 correct: You may love your car, but will need to be kept after class.

  • Between 6 and 10 correct: You may be a safe driver, but will be given extra assignments until you catch up with the rest of the class.

  • Between 11 and 15 correct: Solid work, but have you ever been told “you don’t apply yourself”?

  • Between 16 and 20 correct: Very nice. Keep it up and you may be our next hall monitor!

  • All 21 right: Go to the head of the class. You’re not only smart, you know your James Bond, as well.

    • ________________________________________________________________
    Teachers’ Insurance Plan regularly provides to the public news and information regarding driver safety and transportation issues. The Company issues safety tips, reports, analyses, and conducts original research and sponsors national surveys as a public service to drivers, their passengers and pedestrians. Informational brochures on safe driving tips, saving money on auto insurance and education issues are available from the company. They can be contacted through their web site: www.Teachers.com.


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