A RECENT ACCIDENT.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1515, 10 August 1912, Page 7

A RECENT ACCIDENT.

CHAEGE AGAINST A MOTOE-CAE. DUiV'EB. (By Telegraph.—Press Association.) Auckland, August 9. Just on one o'clock on tne muruiag of July 11 a privateiy-owned 1110 tor-car "ran mcu tao '.Liaiuwny Doiupany's tower repairing wagca in i,jueen atreei, auu a lineman iiamc-a \\'. 'inompson toil uoin .tjie ■ top ol cue : bsing severely liijured.' At (ho .foiieo Uourt this morning Valen-' tins iliiier was prosscuted on a charge tliat he did.not Keep as near as pracncaoie to the lett-haud side of the street, and that he arove uegiigently. Evuiexioe was given by. iiawaru iJMt au<l William i'iioiiipson, who were bqtn on top ot. Uie • tower, ana by Alfred liartin, the driver' ! of tile wagon. It was to the oltect that tne wagon was drawn, up over the out-ward-bound tram-rails, with its rear toivards Customs Street, and the horses' ' heaus towards. Weiiesley Street, The ' motor-car came tip tho street from . the j wharf end, travelling at an ordinary rate, I and witrt its right wheels between the ! J tram rails,- and went right into the rear ' I of the tram wagon, 1 ! Mr. Towlo, ior defendant, , admitted ■ negligent driving, but contended that us the car was oil the left of the car poles, it was not, under tho circumstances, in- ■ fringing the by-law thereby, as it was i safer on a dark night for a motor-car to 1 keep near the centre of tho sfcreqt than '■ "as near as practioable" to the kerb, in 1 view of persons coming suddenly out. 1 Mr. Cutten, S.M., held that defendant's « interpretation of the by-law, under the < circumstances, about driving near the ' centro of the road, ifas not unreasona- s able, and tho charge relating to that ! would bo dismissed. As to the other c charge, after hearing all the evidence, ho j considered the accident inexplicable. Hβ ' recalled a similar accident undor simi- J lar circumstances recently in Dominion' J Road, when a motor-car ran straight into * a tram car. Motor-car drivers, when they ' found: they could not see pro- ° periy on account of the rain ' on the wind-scrcan should take the v screen down, or else keep it frequently wiped, and go cautiously. _ The result in this case implied gross negligence. As the matter of accidents arising from tho negligent driving of motor-cars was a serious 0110, defendant would be fined £3, and £3 p Vis. costs. ' ' , \ a