FREE DEFENCE

Southland Times, Issue 21264, 10 December 1930, Page 7

FREE DEFENCE

AUTOMOBILE CLUB’S SCHEME. BY-LAW BREACHES. (Per United Press Association.) Wellington, December 9. Free legal defence of members charged with by-law breaches in the Police Court is a scheme that the Wellington Automobile Club hopes to introduce next year. “I am very anxious to introduce it for more reasons than one,” said the chairman (Mr E. A. Batt). “There is a tremendous number of motorists almost at the mercy of the police and traffic inspectors. Where there is a conflict of evidence between a motorist and a traffic officer in regard to excessive speed the evidence of the latter seems to be taken invariably by the Magistrates. Many men who had not the time to spare did not attend the Court in a defence of the prosecutions, and when they let the cases go by default they were fined far more heavily than if they defended the cases or engaged a solicitor to do so. It is a notorious fact that motorists arc prosecuted for very trifling offences. It appears that as time goes on the traffic officers find it so easy to get decisions in cases where defendants do not get a solicitor that we will be at the mercy of every traffic officer. I do not think we should defend cases of alleged drunkenness in charge of cars, as it is one of the most debatable points in motoring to-day.” The matter of investigating a form of a legal defence scheme was placed in the hands of a sub-committee to report.