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Automotive inventors killed by their own inventions

There are some inventors who have created wonders, gained applauds for them, and enjoyed while being praised for their contribution to the society.

On the other hand, there are certain inventors whose inventions killed them. And automotive sector is not different from this.

Take a look at some of these automotive inventors who were killed by their own inventions.
Sylvester H Roper (1823 – 1896) was an inventor from Roxbury, Boston, Massachusetts, and a pioneering builder of early automobiles and motorcycles. In 1863 he built a steam carriage, one of the earliest automobiles.The Roper steam velocipede of 1867–1869 may have been the first motorcycle.
On 1 June 1896, Roper rode one of his later velocipede models, a Pope Manufacturing Company Columbia bicycle with a steam engine added. He was clocked at 2 minutes 1.4 seconds for the flying mile, for a top speed 64 km/h. He was seen to wobble and then fall on the track, suffering a head wound, and was found dead.
Michael Dacre invented the AVCEN Jetpod, which was nicknamed the "flying taxi" because of its capabilities of flying and landing within short distances in regional cities.
In August 2009, Dacre died after testing a prototype of his device. He was the only occupant in the machine at the time.
William Nelson (1879−1903), a General Electric employee, invented a new way to motorize bicycles.
On October 3, 1903, 24-year-old General Electric employee William Nelson took the new motorized bicycle he had invented out for a test spin. He fell off the bike on a hill and died instantly. According to the New York Times, “Nelson was regarded as an inventor of much promise.”
American businessman Francis Edgar Stanley (1849–1918), built the Stanley Steamer - steam engine vehicle. He was killed while driving a Stanley Steamer automobile. He drove his car into a woodpile while attempting to avoid farm wagons travelling side by side on the road.
Max Valier (1895–1930) invented liquid-fuelled rocket engines as a member of the 1920s German rocketeering society Verein für Raumschiffahrt. On 17 May 1930, an alcohol-fuelled engine exploded on his test bench in Berlin, killing him instantly.
John Godfrey Parry-Thomas was a Welsh motor-racing driver and engineer. He had always dreamed of breaking the land speed record set by Malcolm Campbell, and set about creating a car to do it.

He developed a car, named Babs, which had many modifications, such as an exposed chains connecting the wheels to the engines.

On the 27th of April 1926, Parry-Thomas broke the existing record, before raising it to above 170 mph the next day. The record stood for a year, before Malcolm Campbell broke it in 1927.

On trying to reclaim his record, one of the chains snapped and flew into his neck, partially decapitating him. He died instantly.
James "Jimi" Heselden (1948–2010), multi-millionaire owner of Segway production company, died in an accident while riding one of his vehicles.

He was found dead in a river after plunging 80 feet over a limestone cliff near his home. He was riding a rugged country version of the two-wheeled Segway when tragedy struck.
Henry Smolinski, a graduate of Northrop Institute of Technology's aeronautical engineering school, built AVE Mizar, a flying car based on the Ford Pinto. It was the sole product of the company - Advanced Vehicle Engineers (AVE), he founded.

He was killed during the test flight of the car, when one of its wings fell off.
Fred Duesenberg (1876–1932), German-born American automobile pioneer designer, manufacturer and sportsman, started the Duesenberg Motors Company.

On July 2, 1932, Fred was driving his Duesenberg on a wet Lincoln Highway on Ligonier Mountain near Jennerstown, Pennsylvania when his automobile overturned, apparently at high speed.

Duesenberg was expected to fully recover from the spinal injury and dislocation of the shoulder when pleural pneumonia developed. On July 25, he suffered a relapse and died.
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