ROAD SAFETY

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 114, 8 February 1937, Page 13

ROAD SAFETY

Only Way Courts Can

Assist

9 “ADEQUATE PUNISHMENT”

Dominion Special Service.

Palmerston North, February 7.

“Strong attempts are being made by the authorities to lessen the terrible toll of death and injury caused by negligent driving, and the only way jhe courts can assist to that end is to see that where juries return verdicts of guilty the punishment is adequate,’’ said Mr. Justice Ostler in the Supreme Court on Saturday, in fining Alfred Henry Martin, sawmiller. Umotoi, £5O for negligent driving and ordering that his driving licence be cancelled for the rest of its current term (four months). Martin, in overtaking another car on bis incorrect side, in Fitzherbert Avenue one night in September, 1930, knocked down two Massey College students, severely injuring them. Had the jury found Martin guilty and stated nothing more, he would have said it was a case for imprisonment, added his Honour, especially as there was a suggestion of drink. However, it was clear Martin was not drunk or the police would have so charged him. and the jury had recommended mercy because Martin might have been confused by a line of excavation lights on the roadside. Nevertheless. Martin should be punished in some way. He had proposed to cancel his licence for a year, but would take into account that driving was part of Martin’s living, that he negotiated the difficult road to his sawmill frequently without trouble, and had been driving for 25 years. For the Crown, Mr. H. R. Cooper suggested that Martin should pay the costs of the prosecution. His Honour said the £5O fine, which went to the Consolidated Fund, more than covered the cost. He allowed Martin a month to pay the fine. Mr. L. G. H. Sinclair represented Martin.