Investigate This Persecution
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GLARING examples of the abuse of their powers by magistrates in inflicting harsh penalties upon commercial-vehicle drivers continue to come to light almost daily. Apart from disproportionate fines for exceeding the speed limit, drivers are penalized even for alleged offences for which they cannot be held responsible either in law or in reason. Justices are, of course, not entirely to blame, for the police in some districts have an odious reputation for pensecution.
In one instance, both the owner and driver of a vehicle were prosecuted by the police for " using " it without a carrier's licence. Although it was pointed out that under the Road and Rail Traffic Act this charge could not be preferred against the driver, the police pursued the action and secured the imposition of a fine upon the worker, as well as on the owner, for an offence wh;rch he had not committed. In all probability the case has been allowed to drop, on account of the high cost of an appeal, and thus the police and the bench are encouraged to follow a similar line of procedure in other instances.
It is this kind of misguided, or, perhaps, vindictive attitude on the part of some of those who administer the law, that is rapidly depriving commercial-vehicle drivers and owners of all hope of justice in the lower courts. Particularly in certain districts is this the case, where authority appears to have a strong bias against road transport and its employees. Conditions in those areas require urgent investigation, and those who genuinely suffer hardship at the hands of the local police and magistrates are urged to acquaint their associations and their Members of Parliament with the facts, with a view to having the matter ventilated in the House of Commons.