RECKLESS MOTORISTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 18964, 11 March 1925, Page 12

RECKLESS MOTORISTS.

ACCIDENTS IN SYDNEY. severe; punishments. MAW LICENSES SUSPENDED. [FROM or It OV.-N CORRESPONDENT. ] I SYDNEY. Mar. 5. ' Motor accidents in and about Sydney, are increasing at such an alarming' rate, and arc being attended to often with lata! result:., tJiat the magistrates are at last coming down with a heavy hand upon offending drivers who are found in their cars under the influence of liquor, or who think that the roads were made onTy for them to tear along at brcak-neck speed. In the past, the authorities have often* looked down mildly upon these practices, rebuked the offenders, just as they would censuro naughty boys, and told them not to do it again. Now they are bein" heavily fined, for driving at dangerous speeds, or while intoxicated, with the alternative of gaol, and are having their licences suspended for varying periods, and in somu cases are losing them altogether. Lately, there has been a hatch of thes® offenders before the magistrates. With, the aid of counsel, they have framed some wonderfully ingenious excuses, but without success. One driver, following an accident, said illness had prevented him from taking food, and that he had taken brandy to keep his digestion smoothly functioning. But be might have saved his breath. The motoring bodies are behind the magistrates in dealing severely with drunken and dangerous drivers. These "motocrats," deaf to all warnings, are getting short shift when they come bofore Ibo magistrates. Incidentally, at. some of the busy intersections, "silent cops," in the form of white lines, are now an indication to pedestrians where to cross, and to motorists where to driva slowly.