The Assizes
| DOI | 10.1177/002201835702100303 |
| Published date | 01 July 1957 |
| Date | 01 July 1957 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
The
Assizes
"
CAUSING"
DEATH BY DANGEROUS DRIVING
R. v. Curphey
INR. v. Curphey at the Bedfordshire Assizes (41 Cr. App.
R. 78) Finnemore,
J.,
directed the
jury
that
on a charge of
causing death by dangerous driving, contrary to s. 8 of
the
Road Traffic Act, 1956, they must be satisfied
that
the danger-
ous driving was the substantial, although it need not have been
the
sole, cause of
the
death of the victim.
The
evidence showed that, at a time when visibility was
restricted through fog to about sixty yards, on a bend on a
usually busy road marked by a continuous white line,
the
defendant pulled
out
to pass at least one of two vehicles which
were in front of him. He said
that
his speed when overtaking
was about thirty to thirty-five miles an hour, which
the
prose-
cution did not suggest was excessive. Before he got back fully
to his near side, a motor-cyclist came
round
a
bend
in
the
opposite direction, collided with great force with
the
defend-
ant's car, and was flung through
the
air for several yards.
He
died as a result of his injuries.
The
evidence with regard
to
the
defendant's position on
the
road when he was overtaking
was conflicting. Witnesses for
the
prosecution stated
that
the
motor-cyclist was on his correct side of the road, about two
feet from
the
white line, and
that
he was wearing acrash
helmet and appeared to be looking down on the road. Evidence
was given
that
after
the
collision the speedometer on the motor-
cycle was found to be jammed and recorded aspeed of forty
miles an hour.
After retiring, the
jury
came back with arequest for further
direction.
They
said
that
they were satisfied
that
the prisoner
was driving dangerously,
but
wished to know of what they
had to be satisfied in order to find
that
he caused the death
of
the
motor-cyclist. After conferring with counsel, Finnemore
J.,
further directed the
jury
that
they must be satisfied
that
the
dangerous driving was
the
substantial, although it need
not have been the sole, cause of the motor-cyclist's death.
221
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