when were drivers licenses introduced? How was it received by the public?

[BitchyGirl]

They say that driving is a privilege not a right. How are registration fees, reinstatement fees and other driving associated costs justified?
Why was the first dept of motor vehicles established and how did drivers react to having to pay to be able to drive? Obviously the price of a car is an assumed sacrifice. Some of the dmv;s fees are very high, Are these high fees meant to be a deterrent of some sort? Does anyone else feel like the dmv is nickle and diming us for invisible rights that might already be ours for free? Like the right to free travel? Maybe im just poor but i really feel like its costing more and more for the privilege of driving than it should.

 

[goldenrider]

[edit] History

The world's first drivers' Licence, issued to Karl Benz upon his request.The first drivers' licence of sorts was issued to the inventor of the modern automobile, Karl Benz, in 1888. Because the noise and smell of his Motorwagen resulted in complaints by the citizens of Mannheim, Benz requested and received written permission by the Grand Ducal authorities to operate his car on public roads.[1]

Up until the start of the 20th century, European authorities issued drivers' licences similarly for this purpose only, if at all.[1] The first locality to require a mandatory driver's license and testing was Prussia, on 29 September 1903. The Dampfkesselüberwachungsverein ("steam boiler supervision association") was charged with conducting the tests, which were mainly concerned with the drivers' mechanical aptitude.[1] In 1910, the German imperial government mandated the licensing of drivers on a national scale, establishing a system of tests and driver's education requirements that would serve as a template for the licensing laws of other countries.[1]

As automobile-related fatalities soared in North America, public outcry provoked legislators to begin studying the French and German statutes as models.[2] On August 1, 1910, North America's first driver's licensing law went into effect in the U.S. state of New York, though it initially applied only to professional chauffeurs.[3] In July 1913, the state of New Jersey became the first to require all drivers to pass a mandatory examination before receiving a license.[4]