HIRED MOTOR-CAR

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LV, Issue 17236, 16 April 1930, Page 14

HIRED MOTOR-CAR

JOURNEY NOT COMPLETED DAMAGES CLAIM SUCCEEDS (Per Press Association.j WELLINGTON, last nigtht. That a motor hiring firm must supply a. car in a condition satisfactory for the journey to be undertaken, was the decision of Mr. E. Page, S.M., in a case involving some points of interest to motorists, heard in the Magistrate’s Court to-day, when Charles Burnard (Mr. Young; sued Wellington Rental Cars, Ltd. (Mr. NichollsJ lor £4B 10s, being the amount of hire paid in advance, and, in addition, running costs and personal expenses incurred, owing to the alleged failure of a car to complete the journey for which it had been hired. It was admitted that the car had been hired for 28 days for a trip to North Auckland, the hire, £22, being paid in advance. Plaintiff stated that there was a slight noise in the back axle when he took the car over, but it became steadily worse and the crown wheels and driving pinion had to be renewed at Taupo, occasioning! a three-day, delay. Further trouble was experienced between Taupo and Rotorua, and plaintiff decided that it would be impossible to carry on. During tho time the car was on the road he had 17 punctures and blow-outs, due to the alleged unsatisfactory condition of the tyres. Defendant counter-claimed for £4 5s 6d for damago alleged to have been done to the tyres and to a wheel. It was contended that the trouble in the back axle was due to bad driving by the plaintiff, and that plaintiff had failed to keep the tyres properly inflated, thus causing tho punctures. In eiving judgment for the plaintiff for £45, with costs, the magistrate said he was satisfied also that the defendants had not made a proper inspection of the car before handing it over to the plaintiff, and that the condition of the hack axle was substantially ns stated by plaintiff, who had been prevented from making) a business trip, and had been put to certain expense and inconvenience. The counter claim mut*t fail.