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Blood Drive

I’m curious about the phrase that appeared in this story from the 1930s. Was it used to refer to hit-and-run drivers, or pedestrian deaths by automobiles in general?

(via Weekend Stubble)

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 at 3:34 pm and is filed under Etc.. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

5 Responses to “Blood Drive”

  1. Deb Says:
    June 30th, 2009 at 5:04 pm

    Based on this post it is hit-and-run drivers specifically: http://mrparallel.wordpress.com/2009/06/10/vampire-autoist/

    But I’m not sure what sources they used to figure that out.

  2. Sara Says:
    June 30th, 2009 at 5:26 pm

    I believe I found the answer in this blog post:

    “The term “vampire auto”…used to refer to cars that had seemingly taken on a mind of their own and have gone out of control, usually with tragic results.”

    You can read the whole post here: http://www.randomconnections.com/?p=2517

  3. Eric Fischer Says:
    June 30th, 2009 at 6:26 pm

    It looks (based on a Google Books search) like the American Institute of Criminal Law and Criminology defined “vampire automobiles” in 1927 as “those which fail to stop after killing or maiming.” It sounds like hit-and-run is a critical part.

  4. James Says:
    July 1st, 2009 at 1:15 pm

    Can we somehow resurrect this term? Perhaps there is an entire defunct lexicon of terms used to describe the negative effects of cars on the health and well-being of motorists and nonmotorists alike.

  5. mr parallel Says:
    July 2nd, 2009 at 12:16 pm

    The expression “vampire auto” was ubiquitous in American newspapers in the 1920s. Usually it signifies a hit-and-run vehicle, but I’ve also seen it applied to vehicles whose drivers were apprehended after hitting a pedestrian. This story from the Chicago Tribune emphasizes the hit-and-run aspect:

    http://mrparallel.wordpress.com/2009/06/11/vampires-among-us/

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