On this day in auto history – February 25th

Thu 25th Feb 2021

It was on this day in 1919 that the US state of Oregon made history by becoming the first state to implement its own fuel tax.

Looking for a way to fund much-needed road construction as cars become more affordable to the masses, the lawmakers hit on a then novel idea of tying the funding to the very thing that makes cars run.

Without knowing it, they had started a worldwide movement. 

Within 10 years every US state had followed suit and, within five years, the federal government had introduced a national fuel levy. Other countries later did the same.