The Daily Dispatch: October 24, 1861., [Electronic resource]

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The rule of the Road in Paris.

--An elegant ‘"horse breaker,"’ known as Mdlle. Aurelia, who is in the habit of showing off in the Champs Elysees in a dashing britska, which she drives herself, was brought up the other day before the Correctional Police, charged with knocking over an old woman. For the defence it was stated that the complainant was in fault, she having most carelessly got in the way of the horse; and, moreover, that the defendant had given her money and taken every possible care of her since the accident. But to Mdlle. Aurelia's great horror and astonishment, she was informed by the court of a police regulation which prohibits ‘"women and children"’ from driving at all in Paris. The fair defendant indignantly protested against this law, and declared that she had met with five carriage accidents in her life when gentlemen were driving, whereas this was the first mishap that had occurred when she handled the ribands herself. The court, however, was ungallant enough to fine her 100f. The police ordinance in question cannot be very generally known; at all events, it is not much regarded, for the ladies may be seen every day driving along the Boulevards, and carts driven by market women and washerwomen are continually met with in all the streets of Paris.