Speed Limit Case : Speedometer Defence
Page 17
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by C.M..U. A. Successful.
At Stratford Police Court, Stratford, E., Oil 21st October, Edwin John Pratt, of 2, Snell's Park, Edmonton, a driver iti the employ of Messrs. Lever Bros., was summoned for exceeding the speed limit of 12 miles per hour while driving a heavy motor at Forest Rise, Leyton, on 6th October, Mr. F. B. Knight was the solicitor for the prosecution, and C. B. Dean defended, on behalf of the Commercial Motor Users Association.
it opening the case for the prosecution, Mr. Knight said the summons was taken out under Section 12 of the Motor Car Act, and the subsequent regulations, which made it an offence for a heavy motorvan, of the kind defendant was driving, to be driven at a greater speed than 12 miles per hour. The van in question had been driven at a speed equivalent to between 19 and 20 miles per hour over a measured distance, according to the evidence he would call. The feature of the case was to do with the speedometer. When spoken to, defendant said to the police sergeant., " I want you to notice the speedometer, as this will be a test ease." The speedometer had two hands ; a black one, which was at zero, and the other stationary, at the figure 13. What that indicated counsel did not know. He would like to point out, however, that the time the van ought to have taken to traverse the distance measured was 37i. sec., and as, according to the police officers' watches, the distance was covered in 23 sec., the difference was 14 sec., and two watches would not he wrong to that extent. Police-sergeant Edwards, No. 60, said on 6th October, in company with Police-sergeant Smith, he was timing motorcars at Forest Rise, he being at the end of the measured distance and Smith at the commencement, He saw defendant's motorvan coming towards him, and he received a signal from Police-sergeant Smith, starting his watch at once. When the car passed the point at which witness stood, he stopped his watch, and gave the signal to Smith at the same time. Defendant was stopped by another constable along the road. Witness went up to him and showed defendant his watch, which registered 22,1 sec., the equivalent to 19 miles 1,296 yds. per hour. Police-sergeant Smith came up with his watch, which registered 23 sec., the equivalent to 19 miles 994 yds. per hour.
Witnese, continuing, said that when he told defendant that he had been timed over a furlong, and the speed at which he had traversed the distance, defendant replied, "1 want you to note the speedometer, as this will be a test case."
The speedometer was produced by defendant, and handed to the magistrates, and the police-sergeant explained that at the time he spoke to defendant the black hand of the instrument was at zero, and the red one at the figure 13. Cross-examined by Mr. Dean, witness said the only difference in the speedometer at that time and at the time of the alleged offence was with regard to the position cd the hands.
Mr. Dean : "Of course you know that the black hand is that which indicates the speed at which the ear is travelling at the time?"
Witness : "Yes."
"When the car comes to a standstill it goes back to zero; while it is the red hand which records the maximum speed at which the car has been travelling? "—" I do not know that." You were standing at the end of the control. Your cor rect timing depends on whether the signals have been given and taken properly, so that your watches may agree in time, and yet because the signals are not given at the right moment your times would not be accurate? "—" That is so."
Further questioned, witness said he measured the track with a. chain. Witness also explained that Police-sergeant Smith stnoil on common land, about six yards away from the road, and ..pposite the commencing point of the control. Witness had a clear view of the sergeant, he himself standing back a little from the road, but right in line with the finishing point. Smith signalled to him with his hand, and he returned a signal with a handkerchief.
Police-sergeant Smith, N462, deposed that his watch registered 23 sec., which worked out at 19 miles 994 yds. per hour. The car appeared to be going at a good rate. He corroborated the evidence of the previous witness as to where he stood.
Inspector Grey gave evidence of being with Police-sergeant Edwards when the control was measured, and as to the correctness of the distance. This closed the case for the prosecution.
Mr. Dean, in opening the defence, said, in this ease, he was going to show that defendant and his employers take every possible care to comply with the law. Their worships would know of the difficulty of estimating the speed of vehicles, and that the most accurate guide one could possibly have was a good speedometer. It had been said, and rightly, that speedometers generally call be tampered with by persons who cared to do so. But, in this case, defendant was the employee of Messrs. Lever Bros., who employed a large number of motorvans, and, in order that there might be no room for an employee to in any way tamper with the speedometers, they had the best make, with a maximum speed-recording hand. And on the speedometer there was a special plunger, whereby, with the aid of a padlock, the movement of the speedometer was so locked that the maximum recording hand could ;tr.. be pressed down to zero unless the padlock were unlocked. Thus, when a speed was recorded, the hand remained stationary at the highest speed recorded, and could not be moved back until the key was used. That key remained in the hands of the engineer of the firm, making it impossible for the chauffeur to tamper with the instrument. He did not wish the Bench to think that he had cross-examined the witnesses with a view to throw doubt on their veracity, for he believed they gave their evidence with fairness and truthfully, to the best of their belief. The point of the crossexamination was this, that there were a large number of small details in which there might be some miscalculation or some perfectly bona tide mistake. There was an argument they had heard before, but which was a very sound one, it was that there was much more room for doubt in times which depended for accuracy on human control than there was the case of instruments entirely governed by the mechanical process of revolution. The fact that the maximum hand of the speedometer stood at 13 at the time defendant was stopped did not indicate that he had then committed a breach of the law, but all it said was that, at some time during the day, a speed of 13 miles per hour had been attained. He was going to show the Bench that a, short distance (about 400 yds.) before the control was reached defendant had to stop his van owing to some slight engine trouble, and he did not think the speed of the car would have risen to the degree suggested in that short distance.
Defendant, in his evidence, said when within a short distance of the commencement of the control, he had to stop his vehicle to look at the radiator. From that time to when he was stopped by the police the van did not reach the 12-mile limit. The red hand of the speedometer was at the 13 before he had to see to his engine.
Thomas Johei Parsons, of Bermondsey, foreman engineer at Messrs. Lever Bros.' motorvan garage, said the firm had special speedometers fitted to all their motorvans so that they could not be tampered with. He had the key of the speedometer produced. He examined the instrument when the car came in after the occurrence had been reported, and it appeared to be in working order. On the following day (7th October), he took it to Messrs. Frodsham, the makers, and it was there tested and found to be in good working order.
Henry Arthur Coles, of Watford, a fitter in the employ of Messrs. Charles Frodsham and Co., the manufacturers of the speedometer, gave evidence of testing the particular instrument on 18th September, when it registered correctly.
Cross-examined, he said he did not know whether a test had taken place in October or not, but he did not test the speedometer in that month. He knew the mechanism of the instrument well. There was about an inch in which the governors rose and fell, and the faster the car went the higher the governors rose. The speedometer would, in that inch, register 25 mile per hour, Mr. Knight : "You would not say it was as reliable as couple of watches, checked one against the other? "
Witness : " I should think su."
"You would swear by the speedometer, naturally. But a slight difference—a fraction of an inch—in the movement of the governors would show a great difference in the speed recorded ? "—" It would."
Mr. Dean said he had another witness to call, but his services were not required, and the Bench, after a brief consultation, dismissed the case.