DECISION RESERVED IN UNUSUAL CASE.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 144, 19 June 1931, Page 14

DECISION RESERVED IN UNUSUAL CASE.

INSURANCE COMPANY TAKES ACTION IN COURT.

An interesting insurance case was heard at the Magistrate’s Court yesterday afternoon, before Mr E. D. Mosley, S.M., when the Southern Union General Insurance Co., Ltd., asked for an order suspending the driving license of William Millner, contractor, of Riccarton, on the grounds that he Avas a danger to the public. The application was brought under the Motor Vehicles Insurance (third party risks) Act, 1928, and is the first of its kind in New Zealand. Mr Tracy appeared for the company, and Mr Hanlon, K.C., of Dunedin, and with him Mr Simes, appeared for Millner. Decision was reserved. In its application, the Southern Union General Insurance Company, Ltd., set out that it had entered into a contract with Millner, and the application was also made on the grounds that the safety of the public was being unduly endangered by him. Application was also made for an order disqualifying Millner from obtaining another license for such period as the Magistrate might think fit. The defendant was also charged that on March 23 he drove a motor vehicle along Oxford Terrace in a manner dangerous to the public. A plea of not guilty was entered on the dangerous driving charge, and the first application was defended. The cases were heard together. The Magistrate, remarking that the case was, as far as he knew, the first of its kind, said that the points raised deserved the fullest consideration. “ I will reserve judgment both on the application and the charge,” he said.