> People hated doing it because it was dangerous Properly dangerous in case people dont realize this. This wasnt people being squeamish. >In the winter of 190

> People hated doing it because it was dangerous Properly dangerous in case people dont realize this. This wasnt people being squeamish. >In the winter of 1908, a woman stalled her Cadillac in Belle Island, Michigan, and didn't have the strength to crank the car over. So she sat there. Another driver by the name of Byron Carter happened along and offered to start the stalled Cadillac. Carter was the founder of CarterCar, which was acquired by GM in 1909, largely due to the company's development work with friction transmissions. Carter was also a friend of Cadillac founder Henry Leland. >When Carter turned the stalled Cadillac's crank, the engine reportedly backfired, the crank hit him in the face and broke his jaw. Tragically, gangrene set in, and, medicine being what it was at the turn of the last century, Carter died later that year.