THE TOLL OF THE MOTOR

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19391, 28 July 1926, Page 12

THE TOLL OF THE MOTOR

TOO MANY ACCIDENTS. DUTIES OF THE DRIVER. SKILL AND CARE NEEDED. »■ COMMENTS BY JUDGE STRINGER. The necessity for insisting on a high degree of skill and care on the part of motor-car drivers in order to reduce the risks of the highways was urged by Mr. Justice Stringer in his charge to the grand jury in. the Supreme Court yesterday.

"I think you must appreciate that there is. and has been for some time past, a great many more of these accidents than would be expected if reasonable care and skill were exercised in the management of these motor vehicles," His Honor said. He supposed that one could hardly ever pick up a newspaper in these days without finding an account of a serious accident in regard to driving motor vehicles. This was certainly deplorable. It was really becoming .quite alarming and was likely to become more so as the use of motor vehicles increased.

The only way to prevent this sort of thing, His Honor continued, was to insist upon a high degree of care being exercised, and the only way'to establish and enforce a high degree of care would be to see that where there was negligence those responsible were punished. Directing attention to the recent amendment to the law with regard to fatal motor accidents, His Honor said that prior to the making of that amendment the only course that could be adopted in cases of fatal motor accidents was to prosecute the person responsible on a charge of manslaughter. It was quite natural that in cases t&at sort juries were reluctant to do-ivict. The result was that in many clear cases juries refused to convict where, had they done their duty properly, there was no doubt they should have convicted. Under the amended law it was not necessary to make a charge of manslaughter, but the parson responsible for a fatal accident could be charged with criminal negligence, the penalty on conviction being a fine or imprisonment, or both, and what was a powerful deterrent, the cancellation of the license to drive.

" If that law is, enforced," the Judge continued, "it will, I think, in the end result in a high degree of care becoming more general than perhaps the present state of things seems to indicate obtains at present."

His Honor said he mentioned these things because he wished the grand jury to understand that as far as they were concerned they should not weigh the-.de-gree of negligence" too nicely. That could be left to the common jury. The Judge mentioned that in a recent case the grand' jury had seemed to consider it 'their function to try the case, that conclusion being forced on him. by the great number of witnesses who were examined by the jury. The bill had been thrown out, but, later, the Crown had presented another bill and "the common jury, rightly His Honor thought, had convicted the accused person.

Five cases arising out of'motor accidents,, four of them. %tal,> were to the grand jury for consideration, the Judge referring to .'the cases in some detail. ' , :.v' • . .

A OORONER'S T^ABKING. : OCCURRENCES IN ENGLAND. ; 'An inquest - was held at tie; Manchester City Coroner's Court lately on -Hannah Ireland, aged 58, who was knocked down •by a motor-cyclist, her death being the: fourth-fatal road accident.to come under, the. purview of the Manchester Coronerin one week. : ' , '> ' s ! Witness, stated ' that- Mrs.. Ireland was crossing; the road at the time of; the accident. .Robert Leigh; stated' that-lie was riding a motor-cycle; at a quarter to .five; when a woman suddenly v came- in • front of . him' from behind a tram: "standard: At the time he was hot travelling beyond 12 to 13 miles an hour, 11 and was on the bottom gear. . He sounded' his horn and applied the brakes, but was unable to avoid-ths /collision; Mrs. . Ireland -was about six yards away'when he first noticed' her.- •

The Coroner, returning a verdict of .'accidental death, said the increase in" the number, of cases- of the, character before him was very alarming. "This is" the fourth ca'se"-1-have had this week," he added. . " Although this:is not one where a. driver is criminally and culpably negligent, it.-does not.rrisan that Leigh. is exonerated from 'all blamO. The only occasion where a motorist dan be said to be • entirelyt absolved' is when; someone falls under the back wheel aud he has no knowledge of the accident. " In the present case there was nothing to obscure the view of the motor-cyclist. He was not" travelling' at an excessive speed, and yet when a woman steps off the footpath he is found unready and unable to avoid the collision. More than ever it is becoming imperative that riders on motor-cycles and drivers of motor vehicles must keep a strict look-out. The imagination needs to be used a little more in anticipating the possibility, in passing along crowded thoroughfares, of some pedestrian unthinkingly attempting to cross the road. , , ;" At the same time, is it equally incumbent on pedestrians to keep their. minds centred on the dangers around them. To sound a horn at. the last moment often only, startles. the. unwary, person, and leaves him at the fatal moment unnerved. The cases this year show a big increase;and I do urge on every one to-take tHe greatest care and trouble in' the preven ; t-ion of these accidents." .. . t