MOTORING OFFENCES
"MONSTROUS SUGGESTION"
When some people give forth opin-1 ions about motorists they.seem to display a mentality -that is distinctly abnormal. This applies to the man in the street who writes letters to the] newspapers, and sometimes even to magistrates who sit on the Bench to administer the law (writes "Motor" editorially). Thus, a magistrate has expressed the view that motorists convicted of dangerous driving' should, in addition to other penalties, be compelled, for a year, to display on their cars a sign showing that they have been convicted of this offence. And a man in the street, in a letter to a paper, thinks this is a splendid suggestion. And we, in turn, think it is a monstrous one. When a motorist ias been found guilty and has paid whatever penalty has been inflicted, he has, in law, purged his oflence. When a person has served a long term of imprisonment for a heinous crime his offence, in the eyes of the law, has been purged. There is no thought in the mind .of anybody that the latter, in order to show the public that- he has been a criminal and, possibly, a dangerous one, should display some badge for a year after release to distinguish him as such. Nobody suggests that it would be good for society at. large if for a period after completing his sen-, tence a burglar of violent tendencies should go about in his prison garb. Then .why. should motorists who have been convicted (perhaps wrongly in some cases) be branded for a year? There are. some minds that are utterly incapable of formulating other than a distorted view on any matter where the motorist is concerned. People like the magistrate we have mentioned—and he ought to- have some knowledge of the law—lose their mental balance in their anxiety to differentiate the motorist as something less than human. No doubt officialdom would like to . hand out crime badges for motoring offenders, but we say that is something which will not be tolerated. ' ". . ' ■ ■ ' - '
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19370320.2.180.2
Bibliographic details
Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 67, 20 March 1937, Page 28
Word Count
339MOTORING OFFENCES Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 67, 20 March 1937, Page 28
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