THE HUNDREDTH TIME

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 261, 31 July 1937, Page 15

THE HUNDREDTH TIME

Motorist Who Drove on When Dazzled

A motorist who collided with a cyclist from behind and the cyclist he hit were both prosecuted in the Magistrate s Court, Upper Hutt, yesterday, the motorist, Francis Earl Winnie, motor driver, Petone, for negligent driving, and the cyclist, Lewis George Anstiss, aged 17, Petone, for not keeping as far as practicable to the left. Winnie was fined £2 with costs 10/-, and Anstiss was ordered to pay costs, 10/-. The evidence of the prosecution, conducted by Constable Williams, was to the effect that the point of impact was seven feet from the centre of the bitumen. IV innie attributed the accident to poor visibility caused through drizzle and the lights of an approaching car. He stated he had driven 12 years without accident. Mr. H. P. Lawry, S.M., said that if a motorist continued on when he was dazzled by oncoming lights it was equivalent to having a blind man at the wheel. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred nothing happened when a motorist did that, but the hundredth, time there was someone there and a collision resulted. In this case there was no allegation of speed against Winnie. The only matter was that he went on when he could not see clearly ahead and took a risk. There was no doubt the cyclist was too far out on the road.