Grand Rapids’ First Speed Limit Is Laughable Today

Getting your driver's license is one of those stages many people complete on their way to adulthood. I remember when I got that, and soon after, I bought my first car; it was my first time driving alone. So, naturally, I hopped onto M-6, slammed down on the gas pedal, and pushed my 2005 Chevy Trailblazer as hard as it would let me, eventually hitting 100 mph.

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It was 30 over the speed limit, but I just wanted to feel that rush. That 70 mph speed limit is the standard for most highways, and 55 mph is the standard for most country roads around the state, but that wasn't always the case.

Monroe Street (Monroe Center) 1898, right before automobiles and horses began to share the roads. / Grand Rapids City Clerk's Office, “Monroe Street (Monroe Center),” City of Grand Rapids Archives and Records Center, accessed October 5, 2026, https://grandrapidsmicityarchives.omeka.net/items/show/643.

When automobiles first made their way to Grand Rapids, there was no speed limit for a time, and then one was finally enacted. It pales in comparison to today. At the turn of the 20th century, reportedly fewer than 10 people owned a car in the entire city. Since this was still a new and very expensive technology, they enjoyed the freedom to roam the streets as they saw fit.

READ MORE: The Fascinating History of Michigan’s Speed Limits and Changing Road Signs

That is, until November 26, 1900, when Grand Rapids enacted the first speed limit, setting 7 mph as the fastest speed allowed within city limits and 15 mph outside them. This was quite low, considering owners could be passed on bicycles and horses, but hey, with new tech comes an adjustment period.

Grand Rapids City Clerk's Office, “Looking East Down Monroe #3 (Monroe Center),” City of Grand Rapids Archives and Records Center, accessed September 16, 2026, https://grandrapidsmicityarchives.omeka.net/items/show/424.

It wouldn't take long for the first car crash fatality to occur in Michigan after these speed limits were enacted. A ClickOnDetroit article references a 1902 collision between a horse-and-buggy and a car that ejected a gentleman named George William Bissel from his carriage and into the road, fracturing his skull. He later died from the wounds.

A decade after this 1900 speed limit was created, Henry Ford's Model T was quickly becoming the hot new thing, and cars would soon outnumber horses, forever changing how Grand Rapids shared its roads.