DRIVER CONVICTED

Taranaki Daily News, 13 February 1935, Page 11

DRIVER CONVICTED

DRUNK IN CHARGE OF CAR. END OF WHITTAKER CASE. Reserved judgment was given by Mr. W. H. Woodward, S.M., at the court at New Plymouth yesterday in a case in which Frederick Wilson Whittaker, a New Plymouth. extractor,, was charged with being drunii while in charge of a jxwfor-.car,

costs and witnesses’ expenses totalling £5 19s. His license was not endorsed nor interfered with in any way. _ If necessary time was allowed in which to pay the fine. , Delivering judgment the magistrate said that on the evidence he had no alternative to convicting Whittaker, although he regretted having to do so. Immediately before the accident from which the charge arose, Whittaker had exhibited several indications which were consistent with a state of intoxication. After the collision he stood about without showing any great interest in what had .occurred. He was examined 40 minutes after the collision by a doctor who gjffaffunced fem sdbgA . SgQ ihiautes

after that he was examined by another doctor who pronounced him intoxicated.

It was well known that a person accustomed to taking liquor could, in certain circumstances, superimpose on himself a certain degree of self-control which would lead to a belief that he was not intoxicated. Then when the person relaxed symptoms of intoxication manifested .themselves again. He could find no Other explanation of the evidence in the case. The witnesses who stated that before the accident the defendant was able to drive the car in a satisfactory and skilful manner were no doubt quite right, but it appeared' that when he dropped his last passenger and got into the last stretch of road leading to, his

home he did relax and failed to exercise the degree of control of his car which he should have exercised. Mr. F. S. Grayling, who appeared for Whittaker, said he desired, to point out the serious position in which Whittaker would be placed if his license were cancelled, as the use of a car was absolutely necessary in his business. He had been driving for 14 years and had had only one minor mishap. The magistrate said that tire degree of intoxication was not excessive and that it did not seem likely that Whittaker would neglect the warning the fine and conviction would be. It was not as if he were a young man of reckless habits.