PENROSE MOTOR FATALITY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVII, Issue 17380, 31 January 1920, Page 6

PENROSE MOTOR FATALITY.

Four days have elapsed since the distressing motor-car fatality at Penrose, and no arrest has been made. The, facts show first theft, then criminal recklessness in driving the stolen car, : and finally inhuman callousness in leaving the injured man on the road, perhaps to die there. In the circumstances the police and detective force should see that no loophole is left in their inquiries that may enable the crime to go unpunished. This fatality will direct attention to the danger to human life involved in the unauthorised appropriation of motor-cars which in the past has been treated far too lightly. The man who has so little sense of responsibility as to steal a car*in the temporary absence of the owner is always a danger to the public and in the public interest, no less than in the interests of carowners, it should be made widely known that such an offence can no longer be regarded in the light of a frolic. By an Act passed last year the law on the subject is made clear and unmistakable. It is theft to take a motor-car 'under circumstances such as have been revealed in this case, and in many other cases in Auckland which fortunately have had less tragic results. The punishment may be a fine of £10 or imprisonment for two months. This law should be strictly enforced in all future cases of joy-riding in stolen cars.