Recent Book: Road Traffic Offences: Wilkinson's Road Traffic Offences

DOI10.1177/0032258X7604900222
Published date01 April 1976
Date01 April 1976
Subject MatterRecent Book
less mindful of the victim's sufferings
than
of the consideration due to the
wrongdoer. Binding over, used with
discretion, combines leniency with
effectiveness, and a treatment of the
subject in the manner described serves
a useful purpose not only for those
to whom it is addressed but to mem-
bers of the general public alive to the
difficulties inherent in the treatment
of offenders.
If
further editions are called for we
suggest that references to the cases
should cover both series of general
reports, not only one of them.
F.
GRAHAM
GLOVER
useful summary guide. The first three
chapters are concerned mainly with
the statutory material - The Magi-
strates' Courts Act, 1952, the Children
and
Young Persons Acts of 1933 and
1969, the Justices of the Peace Act 1968
etc. - the
fourth
chapter deals with
judicial decisions, the fifth with mis-
cellaneous matters -appeals, deporta-
tion
and
recognizances (not covered
in general),
and
in a final chapter he
points to two lacunae in the law,
derived from the Justices of the Peace
Act 1361 and the wording of the
Commission of the Peace.
An age not conspicuous for moral
stamina tends to favour light sentences,
ON
THE
ROAD
DENNIS
CHAMBERS,
JOHN
BELL
AND
ROBERT
QUINNELL.
Road
Accidents -What
WOt{ld
You
Do?
Charles Letts. 45p.
With over 150 death or injury how to approach an accident situation.
road
accidents in London every day Detailed explanations are given of
the risk of suffering from a vehicle the many aspects of dealing with
conflict is five times greater
than
the accidents which have become second
chance of violence at the hands of the nature to experienced police officers.
criminal. This sort of danger level, Each chapter is followed by a question
giving odds of 50-to-l on being and answer section and, in the hope
involved in a crash have prompted
that
the book will be carried in the
Sir Robert Mark to launch acampaign glove box of the car, an enlarged
to advise the public what they should print Roadside Reminder at the rear.
not do at the scene of an accident. This precis, of five pages, is still far
This advice follows hard on the heels too long for emergency use.
The
of
the efforts of three Kent Constabu- Information given is sound, but I
lary sergeants to deal with the same fear, too comprehensive for the
subject by means of one of
Letts
average driver to bother with, parti-
Better Motoring Guides. This book, cularly when it must be paid for.
produced jointly by three experienced The
book
is well presented but unlikely
police officers, is intended for those to achieve its objective as effectively as
with little or no medical knowledge. short press releases and wide distri-
It
explains the necessity of certain bution of (free) briefly worded leaflets.
emergency treatment, with illustrated
'POLARIS'
guidance, advice on where to park and
ROAD TRAFFIC
OFFENCES
PATRICK
J.
HALNAN:
Wilkinson's Road Traffic Offences. Oyez Publishing Ltd.
£13.50 net.
In view of the number of changes in tions of law which are, in fact, his
the law since the publication of the own interpretations of the law
not
seventh edition in 1973, this new, backed by any authority.
That
in
enlarged edition of Wilkinson will itself is no bad thing; all good text-
be welcomed with open arms by all books include acertain
amount
of
who have come to rely
upon
it over speculative argument. However when,
the years. Because it is unique in its as I have seen from personal exper-
field, this
book
has firmly established ience, lay justices accept
Mr.
Halnan's
itself as
"the"
authoritative textbook propositions as "gospel" and, there-
on
Road
Traffic matters and its fore, binding upon them, the danger
qualities are sufficiently well-known becomes apparent. In a recent case,
to make any further comment upon for example, a defendant was charged
them somewhat superfluous. with failing to report an accident.
I will concentrate my remarks, The facts were not disputed: the
therefore,
upon
an aspect of Mr. defendant telephoned the local police
Halnan's
work which has troubled station within an hour of an accident
me in the past
and
which is repeated to report its occurrence. He was
in this eighth edition, and that is Mr. informed that aconstable would call
Halnan's
tendency to state proposi- to see him the next day. The officer
April
1976 139

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT