“Taranaki Central Press” THURSDAY, APRIL 22, 1937. VERDICTS OF JURIES.

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 414, 22 April 1937, Page 4

“Taranaki Central Press” THURSDAY, APRIL 22, 1937. VERDICTS OF JURIES.

Contributory negligence in motoring accidents is discussed in a Wellington case in which a motorist, having trouble with his car, left it on the road unlighted, and a motor-cyclist, colliding with it, broke a leg. A jury gave the motor-cyclist damages, but the verdict has been reversed by a majority in the Court of Appeal on the ground that the motor-cyclis t had the later opportunity of reasonable care.

The Court of Appeal has also expressed the opinion that courts “should jealously guard their controlling power over the verdicts of juries so that juries should not have a free hand to whittle away the standard of care allowed by the law."

The particular case is not a very strong one on which to condemn the partiality of juries, for the jurpmen at least were unanimous and it was the Judges who differed as to the negligence of the motor-cyclist. ’

But the fact remains that the odds are heavy in favour of any plaintiff who seeks damages for injuries, if for no other reason than that the insurance companies have to pay the money. There is also a tendency in a jury, too, to make the richer party pay, and Mr. Bernard Shaw has said that “a rich man tried by a common jury has to reckon with their envy as well as their subservience to wealth.”

It is quite probable, indeed, that in all accident cases juries will some day be dispensed with in favour of assessors sitting with judges. But these adjustments are not likely to raise the standard of care expected under the law. In that direction it is the criminal jury tha't has the greater responsibility.

Unfortunately the criminal juries are far too reluctant to convict, even in the most flagrant cases of negligence, and since the jury system is never likely to be dispensed with in criminal cases, other means must be found of raising the standard of care.