The Star. SATURDAY, JULY 8, 1923. LAW-BREAKING MOTORISTS

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16780, 8 July 1922, Page 8

The Star. SATURDAY, JULY 8, 1923. LAW-BREAKING MOTORISTS

The Magistrate’s Court was engaged for a considerable time yesterday in hearing charges of breaches of bylaws against various motorists. The fact that there were no fewer than seventy informations to deal with might be taken as an indication that motorists generally are careless in their observance of the by-laws which have been made for the protection of the public. The great majority of the cases were concerned with offences which had no direct concern with street traffic. At the same time, however, it is disquieting to see that so many motorists neglect to take the simple precautions which would put them on side with the law. There are too many unregistered cars, and too many drivers who do not possess certificates of ability. It is essential, if the publio is to receive the protection which it is the object of the by-laws to give them, that there must be a more serious recognition by motorists of the demands of the law. It is satisfactory to find that the Magistrate visited with comparatively severe penalties the offences of dangerous driving and speeding. These breaches are far more common than is revealed by Court proceedings. There are dozens of accidents, some of them quite serious, which are not recorded in the newspapers and of which the public never hears. Speeding is the besetting rin of too many motorists, who take all sorts of risks on the roads, and trust to luck to cany them through. We think that the penalties for offences which directly affect the safety of the public should be made more repressive. Motorists who are convicted of speeding should be called before the City Council committee which issues the licenses, and invited to satisfy the committee that their licenses to drive should be continued. If the cancellation of a license automatically followed a conviction for dangerous driving or speeding there would be a large and swift reduction in the number of motorists who indulge the mania for speed. The pedestrian public is entitled to more protection than it is receiving. If a serious attempt were made to cope with the evil of dangerous driving there would be an appreciable increase in the monthly parade of jnotorists in the Magistrate's Court. Experience has shown that fines axe ineffective as a deterrent. i« reason to believe that the cancellation of the licenses of offending drivers would achieve a reform, as the penalty would then become a pe? sonal instead of a monetary one. An amendment of the law in that direr tion would assist the authorities to cope with a growing and ever-present danger.