RACECOURSE TRAFFIC

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LV, Issue 17029, 14 August 1929, Page 8

RACECOURSE TRAFFIC

MOTORIST LEAVES LINE MAGISTRATE AS WITNESS When a motorist, A. K. Shorter, pulled out of the line of cars returning, from the races on July 25 and sjjeeded up, be was unfortunate that the magistrate saw him do it. In the Police Court this morning Shorter pleaded not guilty to a charge of "speeding" but was convicted and fined £2 and costs. The traffic inspector, Mr. W. H. Scott, I who prosecuted, stated that he had been standing at the intersection of Gladstone and Stanley roads watching the cars returning from the races, and bis attention was drawn to a car which left the line at Blgomfield street and again at Albert street, speeding up on each occasion to get back into the rank of cars. Just as the car reached Stanley road it again pulled out- of the. line, and came very close to knocking witness down The other cars were travelling at from 30 to 35 miles an hour, and the defendant must have been travelling at about 40 miles an hour to pass them. The defendant explained that his car wns a 1918 model, which could not travel at 40 miles an hoar. He denied that he had pulled out of the line of cars between Lytton road and Stanley road, and stated that when he reached the latter intersection two cars in front of him slowed down, and the inspector beckoned him to come on. Subsequently, he said, the inspector informed him that ho had not seen him until he reached Stanley road. The magistrate: It is rather unfortunate for you that I was travelling in one of the cars which you passed. W,e thought it was a, very glaring case, and we noted the speed of our car so that we could check yours. (far car was travelling at 20 miles an hour, and we estimated that you were travelling at twice that speed. We saw you pull out of the line again further down the road. The magistrate remarked that the defendant may have been mistaken in regard to the inspector's signal, but he was satisfied that the defendant had been traavelling in a manner which was dangerous to the public in leaving the line and cutting in again. It was a verv dangerous practice, especially on race *ni"hts. and the defendant would be fined £2 and costs.

INFORMATION DISMISSED. A Maori motorist, Wi Thompson, who pleaded not guilty to a charge ol driving in a manner dangerous to the public in Chalmers road on July 24, was given the benefit of the doubt, and the Information was dismissed. lhe traffic inspector prosecuted and iUr A. A. Whitehead appeared for the defendant. , , . In evidence the inspector stated that the defendant's car was comuig down Chalmers road towards Oiilders road at a 'speed of between 35 and 40 miles an hour His excuse when stopped was that he had been trying out the car, having just bought it. The defendant had ontv one leg, which added to the danger. Mr Whitehead submitted that the fact that the defendant had only one leg did not enter into the question, as the traffic inspector himself had issued him a. license. Ho was an efficient driver and a handy mechanic, and had been asked by another Maori to test the car to see whether repairs that had.been carried out on the car .were correct. He found that the car was not "picking up" properly, and he was accelerating and slowing down in an attempt to ascertain the cause at the trouble. At no time was the car out of bis control, and there was no danger whatever to the public in Chalmers road. If was a matter of necessity that the car should be tested, and he purposely turned out of the main road into a quiet side road, in which there was no siji'n <»f traffic The magistrate remarked that it was a case where perhaps the defendant should get the benefit of the doubtThere was no doubt that he was travel(injt at an excessive speed, but he pulled u p when sic-nailed by the inspector. As fa,, as speed was concerned lie madeno discrimination between different parts of the borough, for there was inst ', s much chance of an accident occurring in a side street where there were intersections, and where children might be about. TTndcr the circumstances the ln•brmation would be dismissed.