‘Under the Influence of Drink’
| Date | 01 October 1933 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X3300600408 |
| Published date | 01 October 1933 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
'Under the Influence
of
Drink'
SEC. 15, ROAD
TRAFFIC
ACT, 1930
By
'EDEN'
Asone who has experienced no little difficulty in dealing
with cases arising from Section 15 of the Road Traffic
Act, 1930, it has occurred to the writer that ashort discussion
upon this very important Section and an essayed interpreta-
tion of its purpose and effect, might be of some help to fellow
readers, even if such efforts only succeed in being provocative.
This Section which has ultimately replaced Section 12
of the Licensing Act,
1872-the
Act which made it necessary
for a motorist to be drunk whilst in charge of, or driving a
motor-car, before an offence could be deemed to have been
committed, also operates as an amplification of Section 40
of the Criminal Justice Act, 1925 (now repealed).
Its obvious intent is to make drunkenness in its milder
form, with the corollary of temporary physical and/or mental
disability a sufficient ingredient for police action and Court of
Summary Jurisdiction (or Quarter Session) procedure.
That
the new Section is more comprehensive than its
forebears cannot be denied,
but
in spite of this concession to
common sense and the demand of Public Opinion, the same
difficulty obtains in proving a case of this nature,
and'
When
is a man under the influence of drink ? ' has become the de-
fending counsel's slogan in much the same way as
was'
When
is a man drunk
?'
The
offence has to be proved, beyond all
reasonable doubt, by witnesses whose testimony can almost
invariably be described as circumstantial evidence which re-
lates to transitory circumstances and conditions.
442
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