Samuel Sharp, the blind motorist with license!

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In 1904 in Great Britain anyone driving a motor car had to have a licence. They had to be aged 14 to drive a motor cycle and 17 to drive a car. There was no form of a driving test at all. The magazine “Motoring Illustrated” seemed to take the view that the age limit should be reduced from 17. This illustration appeared in the magazine with following caption.

“The most interesting holder of a driving licence in the United Kingdom is Samuel Sharp, the blind man from Watford who is permitted by law to drive an automobile at 20mph.  Motoring Illustrated secured a licence for the blind man in order to show the inadequacies of a law that  withholds a permit to drive from competent  youths under the age of 17 and gives it to a man of 47 who cannot see…”

Text Michael Ware. Photo courtesy The Motoring Picture Library, Beaulieu.

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