Inspector Without Copy of Amended Regulations.

Northern Advocate, 12 February 1940, Page 6

Inspector Without Copy of Amended Regulations.

The Borough Traffic Inspector had not been furnished with a copy of a new traffic regulation, passed last year revoking that in operation since 1936. This was stated by| the Borough Solicitor (Mr J. F. S. Briggs) when the inspector today took a series of actions against motorists at the Whangarei Police Court. The actions involved parking without lights. Three of the seven, cases were defended, and another . was withdrawn. Having been instructed to appear only a few minutes previously, Mr. J. F. S. Briggs was granted a short adjournment. Previously, he said, when traffic cases were to be. defended notification had been given to the inspector, or the cases adjourned by the court without costs. Mr. Raymond. Ferner, S.M., said that while such agreements between counsels and prosecutors might be desirable, they were no .concern of the court, and if counsel wished to proceed there was no other alternative. New Regulation. Mr. R. K. Trimmer (for Alfred Batty and E. B. Glamrille), said that he had i informed the Borough Inspector of the | lines of his defence at 9 a.m. The information as laid disclosed nc offence, Mr. Trimmer contended. The new regulation was enforcibk only in darkness, and there was nc mention,of darkness inj the summonsej received by his clients. An application for amendment of the infoi’mation to bring it under the new regulations was made by Mr. Briggs The wording of the regulation under which the charge had been lodged, and that which replaced it last year, but of which the inspector had not received if copy, was substantially the same, he claimed, and defendants had not been led astray. Amendment Declined. Mr. Trimmer opposed any such alteration and the magistrate declined to amend. “There can be no conviction on a revoked statute or declaration,” Mr. Ferner remarked, dismissing the cases. For Langley H. Spearman, similarly chai’ged, Mr. L. A. Johnson agreed to amendment of the information. Photographs were produced to show that the car had been parked on the grass at the side of Kamo Road, and well off the bitumen. Mr. H. A. Brough, an inspector, said the street lights were out at the time. Definitions of the words “road” and | “roadway” in the Borough Traffic ' Regulations appeared to be somewhat ; confusing, Mr. Ferner said. Dismissed as Trivial. | It seemed that if a motorist parked off the usable roadway he must leave his car lamps on, whether artificial light was supplied from a street lamp or not. , If the car was parked on a usable part of the road, he wmuld be safe from prosecution if the vehicle was lit by a street lamp. The case against Sherman was dismissed as trivial, and the others withdrawn by leave of the court.