1. Historical concept of deodand
The law treated any inanimate object that caused a death as a “deodand” to be condemned or destroyed.
“A deodand was any inanimate object directly linked to a human fatality -- from a runaway cart to a falling branch -- and it was usually condemned and destroyed.” — A_D_E_P_T
2. Decline and abolition of the deodand doctrine
The practice faded as courts saw it as superstition, especially with the rise of railways; the shift is linked to a waning belief in irrational legal relics.
“I think that it has much more to do with the decline of superstition from roughly the second half of the 18th century on -- courts began to view the old law as an irrational relic, and it gradually fell out of legal fashion.” — A_D_E_P_T
3. Modern legal legacy
Scholars note that the deodand idea survives today in doctrines like civil asset forfeiture, where property is seized and sold rather than destroyed.
“I wonder how this mentality carried forward into modern asset forfeiture concepts (hey, we don't destroy those cars, we get to sell them and make cha-ching!)” — wormius