The first US speed limit for motor vehicles was set in
Connecticut in May 1901. It was 19 kilometers per hour (12 mph)
within the city and 24 kilometers per hour (15 mph) on the
highway. Earlier speed limits were targeted at horse-drawn
carriages, not motor vehicles.
Representative Robert
Woodruff, who proposed the speed limit for vehicles, wanted it
set at 13 kilometers per hour (8 mph) within the city and 19
kilometers per hour (12 mph) on the highway. Drivers were warned
to either slow down or stop driving when they saw a horse-drawn
carriage. This was because the state did not want drivers
scaring the horses.