MAGISTRATE’S COURT

Grey River Argus, 18 September 1945, Page 2

MAGISTRATE’S COURT

'TRAFFIC CASES

Messrs J. Tennent and E. Stratford, J’s P., presided over a sitting of the Magistrate’s Court at Greymouth yesterday. Senior Sergeant G. H. L. Holt represented the police. Oswald Ernest Mutch (Mr. Hannan) pleaded guilty to a charge of driving a motor truck along the Reef-ton-Greymouth highway on August 15 without due care and attention. Senior-Sergeant Holt said that on V.J. Day about 8.45 p.m., defendant was driving a Power Board lorry towards Greymouth along the mam highway across Totara Flat. A Forestry Department truck, driven bv George Jones was standing stationary with its light burning, facing the approaching Power Board truck? The Power Board truck wag travelling very fast when it struck the stationary lorry. In a Written statement defendant had said that tho accident was the result of an error in judgment on his part. He had taken the Forestry truck for a car. Both vehicles were of the table top type, said the Senior-Sergeant, and it was Ibis part of each truck which came into collision. Timber was scattered about 45 yards along the road. Defendant had stated that.he blamed the accident also on the fact that the vehicle driven by Jones was not as far to the left as possible. Further, the Forestry Department s truck being over 7 feet wider should have ’had a blue light burning. Had this been so defendant claimed that he would have known that the vehicle was a truck and would have given it a wider berth. He had stated that just before the collision he had ojanced at his speedometer which showed 28 miles per hour. The lights of the stationary truck were on full and defendant had stated that as he approached he had dimmed his own lights but getting no response from the other vehicle had put them up Holt said that it might have been a serious accident and Jones, who was sitting in the cab of the Forestry Department’s truck might have been killed. Nothing previous, was known against defendant- , ~ Mr. Hannan said that the charge was one of driving without due care and attention and not one of. excessive speed. The stationary vehicle had been parked eighteen inches from the centre of the road and it could have (been parked several feet off centre as the road was very wide at this place. The Court said that this was a serious case with faults on both sides. Defendant was fined £2 with costs 10s. George Jones (Mr. W. D. Taylor) was charged with: (1) driving a motor vehicle not being the holder of a driver’s license, and (2) being the driver of a motor-truck on the Grey-mouth-Reefton main highway he did not park as far to the left as was practical. He pleaded guilty to the first charge and not guilty to the second charge. Senior-Sergeant Holt said that about 8.45 p.m. on V.J. Day defendant was driving an empty Forestry lorry to Reefton. He stopped to pick up passengers. Serious rkimage might have been done to his lorry. He suggested that defendant was in error in not parking as far to the left as possible. Also defendant had failed to renew his driver’s license. Constable A. W. Honey said that he went to Totara Flat on the day of the accident. The road at this place consisted of 9 feet of bitumen each side of the centre line 'and another two feet of shingle each side of the bitumen. The right wheels of the lorry were 18 inches from, the centre line. He was of the opinion that the truck could have been another three or four feet over to the left and if it had been, no accident would have occurred.

Mr. Taylor said that if the lorry had Seen another three or four feet lo the left the off-hand wheels would nave been off the road. Mr? Jones had run out of petrol, said Mr. Taylor. He had pulled into the side of the road and gone to get some petrol. As he was pouring the petrol into the tank two men came along and defendant said that he would give them a lift. The two men had gone round to the front of the truck and had given it a push back on to the bitumen. Jones had started the car and waited to pick up the two men. If Mutch had . exercised reasonable care, said Mr. Taylor, no accident would have occurred. He asked the Court to put themselves in the position of defendant. Only an extracareful driver, he said, would have gone right over to the side of the road again. It was admitted that defendant could have been further over but the change was one of not being as far over as .was practical and not as far as was possible. Defendant said that he didn’t get into Greymouth very often. He had meant to renew his driver’s license but had not done so at the time. When he went to get petrol he had parked the truck gs far over as was possible. He held seen the othei vehicle approaching. There was a blue light fitted to his truck and he thought it was burning at the time of the accident. When questioned he said that he could not say definitely if the light was burning. Leslie Cook, one of the men to whom defendant had said he would give a lift, corroborated the previous evidence On the first charge defendant was fined 10s with costs 10s and Police expenses 12s 6d. On the second charge he was convicted and discharged. , , ... Cecil Ray Wylde was charged with carrying on, on July 8, a passengei service between Runanga and N°-ahere other than pursuant to the authority of a passenger service stated that defendant had a license to carry men to and liom the mine but at the time he was stopped by Traffic Inspector J. A. Ramsav, he was carrying Runanga footballers who should have been carried by the Road Services. Defendant xyas fined £2 with costs.