MOTOR HOGS.

NZ Truth, Issue 135, 18 January 1908, Page 4

MOTOR HOGS.

THE DOCTORS AND THE CARPENTER. The DifficuHles of Securing Convictions. The motor-hog is wo>se than ever m Christchurch and out m the country, and he is likely to when the police-courts favor him and let Mm off because he is well-dressed and is a toff. It is positively getting a crying scandal, and. the police are getting tired of bringing cases either for f -j rious driving or otherwise, because the jossers and the chaffeuis and their pals m the car all swear the one yarn, and convictions are impossible finder the circs. The other day Dr. Nat Neeley was had ,up for negligent driving on the Riccarton Road, but, as usual, begot out of it, and, as n'sua.l, the evidence was most ron^ic-i'ivg. Yet the police story looked as -good as gold, for a man knows when lie's hit by a pestiferous motorcar, surely. Carpenter Edwin Notting, a man over middle age, was rk'ing home on bis bike, m company with a young fellow named Beit. The latter Avent on to the footpath, leaving Netting riding between the tramrails. Cam_ along Neeley with his mates, Dr. .Stevenson and Fox, and Tramway n\an Chamberlain, apd knocked him senseless; He was laid up for four days afterwards. The youth on the footpath stopped when ' he saAv what had happened, and yell-' ed out for the car to stop, l - which it did some distance further on, but the party went on again. Cabman Joseph Harris was behind tlie cyclist ; tho motor-car had passed him and gone m ot; to the trarn-iails. He says the car struck the cyclist all right and sent him sprawling. Had Dr. Neeley driven carefully the accident would have been avoided. He had the whole of the right side of the road to himself, and WAS GOING VERY FAST. Had the motor struck the m-an instead of the bike it would have killed 'him. The defence was that when Notting heard the horn tooted (-he swore he didn't) he lost his nerve and swerved to the right (his wrong side of the road), or he may have intended joining his chum on the footpath ; at any rate, he fell off his bike, and wasn't knocked off. The three doctors and Chamberlain swore that. Notting had a narrow squeak, as the driver of. the car, Dr. Neeley, turned abruptly to the left and risked running over the bike, lying on the road, than over the man. As a result they brought up m a side channel. They weren't going at a fast rate of . speed ; had such been the case the car would have capsized when turned so quickly. They looked back and when they saw Notting get up and pick up his bike they thought . he was all right and careered on. All the witnesses for the defence ' swore the same yarn, which isn't by any means peculiar, and Day, S.M., dismissed' tbe case, saying that he didn't think that tho four would come into Court and swear to what they did if it didn't happen. Well, what about the three police witnesses, including the man who was knocked kite high ? Why should the evidence of tofts be taken i before that of working-men 7 And jwlieu a man's hit by a. motor-car he {generally knows it. Mr Day partly ist-iltified his decision by saying that I when the. motor passed the cab, it 'shouldn't have taken 'the tram-rails jin behind the bike. However, the decision bas only made the police more determined to make every effort to nab motor .hogs m future. What "Truth" wants to know is that, seeing there were three doctors m the Car, why didn't ono at least walk back a few yards to see if the bikist had sustained any injury?