Driving too fast not always unsafe: lawyers
Police may appeal
Excessive speed does not always equal danger, according to lawyers around the country.
Case law was ‘‘very well settled’’, they said, in response to a Napier teen’s acquittal earlier this week on a charge of dangerous driving, after being caught driving at close to 150kmh.
Kingston Webb, 18, an aspiring law student, was caught driving 68kmh over the 80kmh speed limit on State Highway 2 near Hawke’s Bay Airport in November last year. He was fined $400 and ordered to pay $130 in court costs, but was not disqualified from driving. The judgment sparked intense criticism of Judge David Harvey’s ruling, with some online commentators suggesting Webb was acquitted based on his ethnicity and his desire for a law career.
But Auckland lawyer Alistair Haskett said the decision was ‘‘not an unusual’’ one because many previous cases at both the High Court and District Court level had found speed in itself not to be dangerous.
The case law was ‘‘very well settled’’ around the issue. He said Section 35 of the Land Transport Act could be argued to refer to danger for the driver themselves. However, in his experience, the
Police are thinking about appealing a judge’s decision to acquit a teen of dangerous driving after he was clocked at 148kmh in an 80kmh area. Yesterday, a spokeswoman said police ‘‘will be considering the facts of this case before taking any further steps, which takes time’’.
way the law had been traditionally applied was in reference to another person. Also, Judge Harvey was experienced and highly-rated among lawyers.
Christchurch-based barrister Simon Shamy said the test was whether or not somebody who was driving a motor vehicle on a road was driving at a speed or in a manner, which having regard to all the circumstances, is or might be dangerous to the public or a particular person.
Judge Harvey made the decision considering the fact that on that particular stretch of road, there were no side roads or driveways coming off of it, nor was there oncoming traffic, Shamy said. There was also a median barrier.
Shamy said the finding was ‘‘unlikely’’ because with most roads in New Zealand, there was ‘‘not that combination’’ of factors. It was a ‘‘unique’’ case, with a unique set of circumstances.
A law expert said online suggestions a driver’s ethnicity or law aspirations influenced his acquittal was ‘‘insulting’’ to the judge.