"SKIDDING HABIT."

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 64, 17 March 1930, Page 8

"SKIDDING HABIT."

MOTORIST'S TROUBLES. STRUCK A STREET POLE. ACCIDENT AT Y TAKAPUNA. CHARGE OF INTOXICATION. y A second-hand car which had developed tjie "skidding habit" was said to be the cause of an accident which occurred in Takapuna on • Saturday, evening, but Mr. W. R.McKean, S.M., at the Police Court this morning held; that the l'eason why the car struck an electric-light-pole in Anzac Street was that ..the driver was intoxicated. Thomas Mackie, aged 37, a dental • mechanic, the driver of the car, who was arrested shortly after the accident, appeared at the Police Court this morning charged with being in a-state of intoxication while in'charge of his car. Mr. R. Singer said that although most .of- the • facts were admitted,. his client would formally plead not guilty. William Godfrey Reed, ticket checker, residing at .Takapuna, eaid_ he was in his house about 6 p.m. on Saturday when he. heard a crash outside in the street. He went outside and there saw- that Mackie's.-motor car had crashed into ail electric light pole. It was badly-dam-aged. He asked Mackie, who was sitting in the car, if he was hurt. Mackie did not seem to know what he meant and never replied. . Witness thought lie was dazed at first, but subsequently lie could see he Ivas under the inilueiice oi liquor. Mr. Singer: Mackie was bleeding from a cut over his left eye, while ins leg was also held in the car? —Yes. Evidence was then given by a schoolboy who saw Mackie's car on the road. As it came round the corner it went wide, skidded some distance and then struck the electric light pole. There was no other traffic about at the time. The car appeared to be travelling fairly fast. Skidded Thirty Feet. Constable Wood, of Takapuna, said he went to the scene of the. accident immediately he received information about it. The car was badly smashed, the spokes of the front wheels being knocked out. From the marks the" car appeared to have taken too .wide a turn on the corner. The marks showed that it skidded 30 feet.before the front wheel collapsed. The car then, mounted the footpath and 'travelled- another 24- feet before striking— the electric light standard. . Mackie was not near the earwhen witness was there. He and his little boy, Who accompanied him, had got on a bus and had gone home. Witness arrived at Mackie's house about half an hour aft'er the accident. He saw Mackie, who was then under the influence' of liquor,' and not fit to drive a cai. Mackie was taken to the Devonport police station. Mackie said he had only taken one drink. ' Witness' had - seen accused's car outside the Mon Desii Hotel at Takapuria about 5.55 p.m. Sergeant O'Brien/ of the Devonport police, said he saw Mackie at five minutes to seven "on "Saturday evening. While lie walked fairly, steadily, he showed signs of iaying taken liquof« . • i Driver Severely Shaken. ' Mr/, 'Singer.' submitted that jMapkieV case : was not quite as bad as* some of the" others that had been before the Court recently.' Mackie was a married man with three children. Unfortunately for him, he had only Jiad the motor car since Christmas. It was a second-hand car, which he had purchased for £110. Mackie had not been driving very long. On Saturday, Mackie left home' shortly after . 4 p.m., and went, to the Mon Desir Hotel to. see a. friend. .He ,did not find his friend and only had : one drink at the hotel. Earlier in the.day he had taken one drink. -"At .the time-of the accident,* said counsel, "Mackie was not under the influence of liquor. His car had the. skidding habit, and in turning the corner he evidently lost control of it. His little boy, aged, five, was with him. After the .accident, as the result of the severe shaking he had received, he probably appeared to be under the influence of liquor. There are more than reasonable possibilities that before the'accident he was quite sober." "Never Intoxicated in Life. Mackie tlien gave evidence. He said he had never been intoxicated in his life. In making a turn at the corner his car skidded across the road and ie lost control. The car then mounted the footpath and hit the post. He denied that he was under the influence of liquor. "There is nothing different about this • from the ordinary case, Mr. Singer," said the magistrate, Mr. W. R. McKean. "Mackie's car has been badly damaged, but I do not know that I should take that into consideration. He turned the corner in a way that does not suggest he was in possession of his full faculties. He will be fined £25 and costs £1 4/6, in default two months' imprisonment. His license will be cancelled for twelve months." Mackie was allowed 21 days in which to pay his fine.