Easy Money

The number of cases in which motorists bring cases against other motorists seems, regrettably, to be on the increase. More disturbing is the fact the Magistrates often find these cases proved although it is merely a matter of one person’s word against another’s.

In a recent case a Mr. K. Lloyd Goffe, a former speedway rider of Wokingham, Berks., brought a charge of driving without reasonable consideration for other road users against a lorry driver who hooted at him because he waited too long at a pedestrian crossing. The lorry then passed Mr. Goffe “at something like 50 m.p.h.” according to Mr. Goffe. In his defence the lorry driver said that with the two-speed axle of his lorry only one set of gears could be used in town traffic and it was impossible to drive at the speed suggested by Mr. Goffe, and his maximum speed when passing Goffe’s car could not have been more than 25 m.p.h.

No witnesses were produced on either side but the magistrates found the case proved, endorsed the lorry driver’s licence and Fined him £5. Oh dear?