"Hit and Run" Driver (1923)

[Laurence Horn]

At 2:28 AM -0400 5/29/05, bapopik at AOL.COM wrote:
>This made the news.
>...
>...
>(GOOGLE NEWS)
>Qns. man 18th hit-and-run victim
>New York Daily News, NY - May 27, 2005
>A Queens man became the 18th victim of a hit-and-run driver in the
>city this year when he was struck and killed in Richmond Hill last
>night, police and ...
>DRIVER, 83, FATALLY RUNS DOWN MAN IN QUEENS New York Post
>...
>...
>...
>(OED)
>     2. Motoring. The action of the driver of a motor vehicle who
>fails to stop after an accident for which he is responsible. Freq.
>attrib. Also hit-run.

Note that this (1923) "Motoring" sense comes well after the
establishment of the rather more benign baseball usage, whose first
OED attestation is in 1899.  I've always assumed the two to be
historically related, although the semantic link is attenuated.

Larry

>
>   1924 Sci. Amer. Sept. 181/1 With the bumper in circuit with the
>ignition, there would be no more 'hit-and-run' driving. 1926 Amer.
>Speech I. 460/1 The hit-and-run driver. 1933 Bulletin (Sydney) 11
>Jan. 9 The power to inflict the death penalty on the hit-run driver
>who kills. 1944 E. S. GARDNER Case of Careless Kitten xxiv. 217
>Lunk's dead, found at a road intersection a couple of blocks from
>his house, a hit-and-run car. 1949 'M. INNES' Journeying Boy ix. 109
>If Soapy had been a bit nearer the kerb, I'd have felt like a little
>hit and run. 1955 C. S. FORESTER Good Shepherd 24 He had been in
>trouble with the civil authorities for a hit-run automobile offence.
>1965 'L. EGAN' Detective's Due (1966) xii. 129 There had been a
>hit-run yesterday. 1972 Times 14 Dec. 4/8 Professor Christiaan
>Barnard..will suffer no after-effects from injuries sustained when
>knocked down by a hit-and-run
>...
>...
>(PROQUEST HISTORICAL NEWSPAPERS)
>...
>CHICAGO AT THE BARRIERS.
>Chicago Daily Tribune (1872-1963). Chicago, Ill.: Jan 24, 1923. p. 8 (1 page):
>The blame is not always on the driver. Frequently it is on the
>pedestrian. But it is pretty safe to say that when a driver hits and
>runs he is guilty.
>...
>SPEEDING AUTOISTS SERIOUSLY INJURED 2 MORE, THEN FLEE; John Hammerli
>Struck in Chevy Chase; Leonard Stev- ens Hurt Crossing Street.
>POLICE OFFICIAL ASKS PUBLIC TO COOPERATE Inspector Grant Believes
>Wit- nesses of Motor Murders Are Withholding Facts.
>The Washington Post (1877. Nov 30, 1924. p. 2 (1 page)
>...
>'HIT-AND-RUN' AUTO CONFISCATION BILL PROPOSED IN HOUSE; Drastic
>Measure Would Increase Fines and Jail Penalties. DRIVER'S LICENSE
>REVOCATION ADDED More Stringent Regulations for Permits Provided;
>Other Plans Noted. DRASTIC HIT AND RUN AUTO BILL PROPOSED
>The Washington Post (1877. Dec 3, 1924. p. 1 (2 pages)
>...
>PENALIZING "HIT AND RUN."
>The Washington Post (1877-1954). Washington, D.C.: Dec 5, 1924. p. 6 (1 page)
>...
>...
>(NEWSPAPERARCHIVE)
>...
>  Oakland TribuneWednesday, April 18, 1923 Oakland, California
>...persons, one the victim of a "HIT AND RUN" DRIVER, are ing from
>Injuries today.....that 'no .holdup his huii'l in HIT-- j pocltrt in
>a to indicate Mluit..