DANGEROUS DRIVING

Otago Witness, Issue 4028, 26 May 1931, Page 20

DANGEROUS DRIVING

MEDICAL MAN FINED LICENSE CANCELLED TILL END OF YEAR. CHRISTCHURCH, May 22. Before the magistrate H. Gilmour, a medical practitioner of Lyttelton, was fined £25 and costs for driving a motor car in a dangerous manner, £lO for failing to stop after an accident and render assistance, and he was convicted for failing to report the accident to the police. His present driving license was cancelled, and he was prohibited from getting another till December, 1931. The charges arose out of a collision on the Ferry road in April with a motor cyclist, who had a woman pillion rider. The police said that the defendant, who was alleged to have been driving fast, crashed into a motor cyclist and a girl pillion riding, knocking them some distance. They were injured and taken to the hospital. The defendant did not stop, but went into town. Later he drove back past the spot, and was chased by another motor cyclist after someone had recognised the car. Tba doctor seemed to be hazy about the accident. He had a lady passenger with him. Later he reported the accident after consultation with an ambulance man. The police said the defendant must have known of the accident, as his lady passenger was injured and the windscreen of his car was smashed. Counsel for the defence said that- the doctor lost control when he met the cyclist. Then he realised his lady passenger was streaming with blood from cuts and needed attention. That was why he went on. The defendant had suffered a severe shock, and it seemed that his faculties were not working properly. Witnesses said there was no suggestion of drink. The magistrate (Mr E. D. Mosley) said: “Counsel has made serious admissions, and 1 am pleased to see that a man in a most serious position does not bark. He makes an honest statement. So far as the offences are concerned, they are of the most serious possible nature.”