MOTORIST CHARGED

Grey River Argus, 19 October 1943, Page 2

MOTORIST CHARGED

MAGISTRATE’S COURT AT GREYMOUTH.

Before Mr. G. G. Chisholm, S.M., ; in the Magistrate’s Court at Greymouth yesterday. John Charles Smith, was charged _ with Doing intbxicaied while in charge - of a motor van on the Christchurch- i 7 Greymouth Main Highway, at Otira,i • on October 2. Mr. W. D.. Taylor 1' appeared for the accused and pieaaed not guiltv. Senior Sergeant G. F. Bonisch conducted the prosecu- ■ tion. ~ ~ . I Inspector D. L. Calwell said that. on Saturday, October 2, at 3.55 p.m. > while he was driving from Otira to-i 7 wards Greymouth at a point about ■ 3J miles from Otira on the main i road he saw a light motor van about ton foot off the roadway and about a chain down a hill where the road ' went to the left at the brow of a hili.. The van was standing on its wheels in the blackberry and had not overturned. It was facing west. From th? d.rection in which it had been travelling and marks clearly vis'ble m the loose metal it was ev d -nt that the van had started to . ' leave the road as it began to turn 'th corner Bv the marks on the road and the remarks of the accus- , ed and his comrades the accident had taken place less than an hour before. As witness turned the cor- ’■ ner accused and his two friends stood and waved. When, he got out the accused immediately requested him to pull the van back on to the • road with his car. This would have been impossible with the light car. He could see that all three of the mfc!1 —two of them in Army uni- . form and the .accused in Air Force uniform —were under the influence of drink. Accused admitted that he liad been driving the van and • said that he had had too much speed on to get round the corner. He smelt of drink, was unsteady, j - flushed in the face; and most in- i ■’ coherent in his speech and statements. Witness told him his official - position and he did not seem to realise the fact at all but went on - talking in a disjointed way. Witness was quite satisfied that the accused was unlit to be driving a motor-vehicle in that state. He told him he thought he was intoxicated, and the accused said he had had some beers that day. He thought his words were that he had had too many beers. There was no reason why, if the car was mechanically sound and proper care was taken, . it should have left the road. The only conclusion he cold come to was that it was due to the intoxicated stale of the driver. No one was injured. Witness left saying he ; would get assistance. , To Mr. Taylor: The accused was not abusive but rather treating the matter as a joke. The men were all. merry. He definitely smelt drink on i ■the accused. He told him soon af- | ter the Begtnmiig of the conversation that he the Inspector of Police. There was loose metal on the sides of the road. Constable A. C. Osborne of Otira : said tnat on the dav in question Im j received a telephone message from ( the Inspector and left, the station with the object of getting Mr. Fan- i ning's transport vehicle to get the j van back on' the road. Mr. Fanning I was not home and when witness ar-1 lived at the scene of the accident . on his bicycle about 50 minutes af-> tor receiving the telephone message; he found that the truck had been ■ got on to the road and taken back to the house of the owner (Mr. Griffin). Mr. Fanning having been there during the day. He then saw accused who admitted that he was in charge of the car. He admitted that he had had four beers before 2 p.m. that day .and he showed signs of havmg had liquor. At the time he saw him witness thought he was , m a fit condition to drive a car. That would be almost an hour af- , terwards. Witness could smell liquor on him, his lace was flushed, j and his eyes were not clear. He ap- ■ eared to be suffering from shocic, which in witness •• opinion had been | sufficient to sober him up. I To M'r. Taylor.: There was no, serious damage to the van. Mr. | Fanning said that he saw nothing wrong ' with accused's driving when he left on the journey. The accused said he had been at Griffin’s since soon after two and mentioned going, across the river bed. Tne accused, in evidence, said that at the time of the accident he was on leave at Otira. He had had no drink-before lunch time. He had; four drinks before two o clock. He, did not have lunch that day. After i the drinks he went to Griffin’s and ■ later went for a shoot. He returned to the farm and left in the van to pick up Mr. Griiiin. After he got I on the bluix he could not pull rhe . truck round in the shingle. Thei steering was stiff, and when he leftthe road if he had pulled it round J to the left the van would have I turned over. The front tyres were i of uneven size and the big tyre on the left tended to pull the van over to the right. It was not long after that the Inspector came, along. Witness was jacking up the van and by in- ..me he went to join his friends they were talking to the inspector, whom they told they vve.e a oil under the weather. He be. wed uiey had been drink.ng when he had not been. His friends told him after the Inspector had left that he was the Inspector. Witness discussed getting help with the Inspector, mentioning the names . of Messrs Power and Fanning. To his mnid he w.as sober. I To Senior Sergeant Bonisch: He | was 19 years 4 months old. He had, the drinks at a hotel at Otira. He was staying at the Gorge Hotel,, not i that at which he had had the drinks. He had been driving since has was fifteen and had 12 months in the A.S C. He had been over the road about six months before the accident He was conversant with the bend but did not think it was as sharp as it was. He shut the motor off at the top of the hill to save benz'me They were all sitting in the cab and he did not have much room. He thought the other men were intoxicated and were singing. He did not drink while at Griffins and did not see anyone drinking there. He was not with the others all the time at Otira. Mr. Taylor submitted that there was obviously .a direct conflict between the accused’s and the Inspector's evidence. The accused received at least some support from Mr. Fanning who, according to stable Osborne, said the acuseds driving was all right when he went away from the farm. He thought the Inspector had jumped to the conclusion that since the accused s friends were intoxicated the accused was in a like condition. The Magistrate said he did not think' there was any doubt as to the accused's condition. It was a question of whose evidence to accept, and he had no hesitation m taking the Inspector’s word. Senior Sergeant Bonisch said that nothing was previously known against the accused. , The Magistrate said that the .accused’s present, license would be cancelled and he would be prevented from holding another for .12 months. He would take into account the accused’s youth and financial position and impose a fine o f £s,' with costs 10s. NEGLIGENT driving charge. David Garing wasfeharged with negligently driving a car on the Seven Mile Road, Dunollie, on September 9A last He pleaded not guilty. Senior Sergeant G. F. Bonisch represented the police. . Peter Rae. miner, of Runanga, said that on September 26 he was painting

in front of the house. Two children who lived across the road about hall a chain further down were playing with his child. At about 10.30 a.m. the two visiting children left. His own child, a girl aged three and ahalf years, hesitated to get a book and crayons and followed about thirty or forty yards behind the other children. When his child passed the side of the house he heard the - car coming and warned the child but she continued on and he saw her on the edge of the road. The car was a chain and ahalf to two chains away. There was a slight bend in the road, but it was not sufficient to obstruct the view of the driver of the car. He tried to stop the child till the car had passed but was unable to' do so. As the child ran the car caught up and followed her for about thirty feet. The child ran diagonally all the time. The car veered over till it was on the incorrect side and while there struck the child and knocked her down, travelling only about four feet after striking her. He thought the driver could have stopped sooner than he did. He thought that if he had slowed down and kept to the correct side of the road he could have gone behind the child. The child was not seriously injured. Constable W. Theyers said he was called to the scene of the accident at about 11 a.m. He was shown the marks on the road and where the child was hit. These showed that defendant had followed the child along the street for 54 feet and that the car was well over on the wrong side when it struck the child. The right hand wheel marks were off the bitumen. The driver might have been braking before he went off the bitumen, but the marks showed only on the rough surfaceTo the Magistrate: There was a possibility that the brakes were operating only on one wheel. Garing, is evidence, said that he was travelling from Cobden to Westport and intended to stop two doors bevond the accident. When his stop was nearby he changed down to second gear. He glan'ced into the reflector and lowered the window, then sensed an action of his son, vyho was with him, and saw the child, immediately in front. His intention was to keep to the right and come to a stop. He veered sharply about nine or ten feet to the right. He saw children on the right hand side very close to the road. In his effort to keep the child' in view he found himself with two wheels off the bitumen. He braked rather sharply and found that with two wheels off the bitumen there was a tendency for them., to skid and bring the car back on the road into the line of the child. If he had braked suddenly that would have happened and he had to bring the car co a sliding stop. He had almost stopped when he felt the bump where the child struck just in front of the front door The child was waving a magazine and that would account for her not hearing. There was a high wind at the time. He thought the child did not know that the car was there. To Senior Sergeant Bonisch: When he first saw the child she was just on the road. He could not anticipate her course. He thought at first that she was running straight down the road and he pulled to the right to give her plenty of room. He was about seven or ‘eight yards away when he saw the child, and travelling at less than twenty miles an hour. He. could have pulled up if he had known the child’s intention. The whole responsibility was his because of the age ot the child.

To the Magistrate: There were a number of people on both sides of the road. .' ' i ' The Senior Sergeant said that nothing was previously known against the defendant. The Magistrate said it looked as if defendant had got confused in the emergency and lost control of the car. He would be fined 10s, with costs 14s, and witness’s expenses 14s 10d. For having an unlicensed radio, Charles Edward Cutbush, of Dobson, was fined 10s, with costs 10s. Mr. A. Sumner, Radio Inspector, said that a license was obtained two days after his visit.

Reserved judgment was given in a case heard on February 15, last, in which Anthony Henry Cawley (Mr. Taylor) was charged that being the driver of a motor truck approaching the intersection of Cowper Street and Hosoital road, he failed to give way to traffic approaching from his right. The case arose out of a collision between a truck driven by Cawley and a car driven bv Dr. K. Kent. The Magistrate said that the case had teen held over pending a civil case, but no action had been taken in that direction, and he had been asked to finalise the matter. He had no evidence to show that the entrance to the hospital was the continuation ot a road, and therefore he could not regard the place as an intersection, but as a right angle bend in one road. The information would be dismissed.