alt Hacker NewsYeah but back then streets were for people and horses. There were no clear markings separating the sections, there were no laws making it illegal for you to walk on the streets.
If there were traffic laws, nobody knew them and people wouldn't know which way to go to avoid a head on collision.
If you'd just replace cars with horses today it would go a lot different.
Uh. Sidewalks existed and pedestrians mostly stayed on them for their own safety. Jaywalking wasn't made illegal until the 1950s, well into the car era.
And it wasn't just horses. It was horse-drawn carriages. There wasn't that much difference, traffic wise, between carriages and cars. There were traffic jams, out of control vehicles, drunk drivers, street racers, collisions, etc. all back in the 19th century.