MOTOR SPEEDING

Te Aroha News, Volume XIXXX, Issue 6382, 23 August 1923, Page 1

MOTOR SPEEDING

TOLL OF HUMAN LIFE

A JUDGE’S COMMENTS

Mr Justice Reed, on Monday, in his charge to the Grand Jury, commented on a charge of manslaughter against J. T. Doherty, arising out of a fatal motor-car accident. He said the case was in a class that was becoming too common, unfortunately. Motor cars

were becoming more numerous every year and accidents were keeping pace with the increase. There was a special statutory duty on the driver

of a motor car to take reasonable precautions, and care to avoid danger. If he did not do so he was responsible criminally for the results that followed his negligence. The word applied

to that class of crime, viz., manslaughter, was an unfortunate one. It often frightened a common jury against finding a verdict of guilty against a person, obviously guilty, because probably he was a man of excellent character, and because his

counsel strongly impressed on the

jury that manslaughter was a terrible crime second only to murder. The sympathies of jurymen were aroused, and a sympathetic verdict might be given. If the Statute was amended to eliminate “manslaughter” in those cases, and to substitute “causing the death of a human being by negligently driving a motor car.” there would be few instances of negligent people

being acquitted. The Statute might be amended, also, to give power to prohibit a person from driving for a number of years. The power might be extended to magistrates. The alteration would make drivers more careful. Statistics collected in Amer-

ica showed that most accidents were due to excessive speed, not to congested traffic. Many of them happened in country districts where drivers were . speeding. A recent statement by the president of the New Zealand Automobile Association seemed to be well founded. He said it was excessive to drive at a speed exceeding thirty miles an hour. The

speed was not actually restricted in motor regulations. It probably was better to leave the law in its present state in that respect, because any alteration to fix the maximum speed would interfere unduly with expert drivers, and probably would have no effect on inexpert drivers. “I have dealt with this question at some

length,” His Honor added, “not because it represents the most serious cases that come before this Court, but because motor accidents are causing many deaths in New Zealand.” The Grand Jury made the following recommendation:—That this Grand

Jury is of opinion that where a per-

son has been convicted of a charge of

driving a motor to the danger of the public, power should be given to the judge or magistrate, should the cir-

cumstances warrant it, to prohibit such person from holding a license or

driving a motor in any district in the Dominion; that after such prohibition it should be a penal offence to drive a

car or motor in the Dominion,

Mr Justice Reed said he firmly agreed with the recommendation and hoped the effect of it would be to

cause legislation to be carried out in this conviction.