Restrictions on Prosecutions under the Road Traffic Acts
| Date | 01 October 1936 |
| Published date | 01 October 1936 |
| Author | A. F. S. Cotton |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X3600900410 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Restrictions
on
Prosecutions
under
the
Road
Traffic
Acts
By A. F. S. COTTON
Clerk to
the
Justices,
Epsom
ON page 23of THE
POLICE
JOURNAL
forJanuary-March, 1936,
.there appeared abriefstatement on the service of notices
in motoring cases, and in this article it is proposed to deal with
this subject in a more detailed manner.
Section 21 of the Road Traffic Act, 1930, contains certain
restrictions on prosecutions under any of the provisions of
that Act relating to the maximum speed at which motor
vehicles may be driven, to reckless or dangerous driving and
to careless driving.
In
any of these cases the defendant cannot
be convicted unless one of three alternative requirements is
complied with. Either (a) he must be warned at the time the
offence was committed that the question of prosecuting him
for an offenceunder one or other of the above provisions would
be taken into consideration, or
(b)
asummons for the offence
must be served upon him within fourteen days of its com-
mission, or
(c)
within the fourteen days a notice containing
the prescribed particulars must be served on or sent by
registered post to (i) the defendant, or (ii) the registered owner
of the vehicle.
Since the requirement of the section is in every case to
be deemed to have been complied with unless and until the
contrary is proved, the onus is on the defence to prove that
none of the alternatives has been carried out, and if the
defendant can do this successfully he cannot be convicted in
the case of the offences above mentioned.
There is, however, an important proviso that failure to
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