Heatway rally
Sir, —You report that 17 of the competitors in this rally were eliminated because of crashes. As the competitors and officials of such an event are considered the best of the country’s drivers, why do so many run out of road? The only cause of a motor vehicle running off the road is poor judgment, by the driver, of the circumstances’ he has encounted. When this involves only one vehicle the error is doubly wrong. Thia applies if the driver is racing on a closed road or touring on the open highway. In the eyes of the law, if a driver acts so as to cause an accident he must be driving recklessly and so is liable to lose his licence, and rightly so. Will these so-called top-line drivers be prosecuted for their actions? If not, how are the traffic authorities to persuade the rank-and-file motorist to drive safely? Many motorists of up to 40 years experience can prove that driving according to the conditions pays off.—Yours, etc., J. CAVERHILL. May 12, 1971.
[The Secretary for Transport (Mr R. J. Polaschek) replies: “The speed Sections of the Heatway rally were conducted on closed circuits on which the normal rules of the road do not apply. I have received no reports of excessive speed or other breaches of the law on public roads by rally drivers.”]
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Bibliographic details
Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32612, 21 May 1971, Page 8
Word Count
227Heatway rally Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32612, 21 May 1971, Page 8
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