A Fatal Misstep on the Tracks
A tailor is struck and killed by an electric streetcar after stepping directly into its path near Lake Union.
Andrew M. Shoblad, a tailor, was struck by Fremont electric car No. 28 and fatally injured. Shoblad had just stepped off another car near the old water works by Lake Union when he signaled to cross the tracks. Despite warnings from witnesses, he stepped directly in front of an oncoming car moving at high speed. He was knocked down and crushed, dying later at the hospital. Shoblad was a sober and industrious immigrant from Sweden who left behind a wife and four children.
“He turned to look back at the conductor, at the same time making a step forward directly in front of the approaching car.”
The rapid expansion of electric streetcar lines in late 19th-century Seattle brought both modern convenience and new, lethal industrial risks to pedestrians. This event reflects the dangerous transition period of urban infrastructure before modern traffic safety standards were established.
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