MOTOR SPEED GUESSING.

Putaruru Press, Volume VI, Issue 225, 23 February 1928, Page 7

MOTOR SPEED GUESSING.

AVERAGE MAN’S ATTEMPT. Unreliable Evidence. In actions brought against motorists, people frequently —in fact almost daily—go into the -witness box and swear with a definiteness which admits of no doubt in their minds that the driver of a car was travelling at “ such and such ” a speed. A Sydney paper’s test of the ability of the man in the street to judge the speed of a motor car was very illuminating. One man, a passer-by in the street like the others, said that one car whose speedometer registered 25 miles was travelling at 40 miles. Others were also hopelessly out of it in their judgment. One woman who was accosted confessed that she had no idea of speed. She proved it by estimating at 60 miles per hour the speed of a car which' was actually travelling at 25 miles, says a Sydney paper.

The judgment of these passers-by bore out eloquently the experience of Sydney magistrates and others who have to deal with actions brought against motorists that the average witness is most unreliable when he gives his version of the pace of a motor car. As a matter of fact, it was the erratic judgment of the man in the street in this respect that largely induced the Sydney traffic authorities to abandon all limitations of speed, and instead to compel drivers not to travel at “ a pace dangerous to the public,” having regard to all the circumstances. This places upon the motorist the onus of being careful at all times and in all circumstances.