Magistrates Decision

[dutchy]

I happened to be over hear an interesting ruling from a local magistrate and thought i would share it with you all.
I think the court session resulted in an interesting decision by the magistrate in regards to a topic that many people on this forum have regularly commented on and campaign for.............better driver training!

Let me paint a picture........

A young woman (19 years of age) is appearing infront of the Magistrates Court answering to a charge of careless driving causing serious injury.

Summary of the accident tells a story of how the young woman was travelling down a local road in the country when for no reason other than inexperiance she lost control of her car when pulling too far into the gravel to avoid being too close to an oncoming vehicle. No she wasn't distracted by her mobile phone, investigations proved no incoming/out going messages or texts.

She hit the dirt and lost control, over corrected, resulting in a head-on collision with the car she was trying to avoid causing serious injuries to both herself and the driver of the other vehicle. Various broken limbs and other injuries were listed as a result.

It was always clear this young woman was no run of the mill hoon. She was obviously upset by the whole event and distressed while at court and had taken full responsability for the accident agreeing to plead guilty.

The first thing the Magistrate asked before he delivered his ruling was "in the time between when the accident occured and the hearing today have you attended any defensive or advanced driving course?"

The answer was no. He went on to discuss how he believes that drivers end up on our roads nowdays unskilled and completely unprepared for the number of driving scenarios that await them. People recieve their full licence nowdays and they are almost incompetent to deal with day to day emergancy/evasive driving situations......................and its not their fault.

He continued by stating that while the government has made attempts to rectify the issue (I assume he is referring to the newly introduced minimum 120 hrs required on "L" platers") it is still an ongoing issue that needs far more attention than its currently getting.

The ruling, she was released on an undertaking (promise to the Magistrate) that she would attend a defencive driving course and then return to court afterwards to recieve the final ruling.

[seiko1]

Decent ruling, but I can't help thinking ...if it had been a male driver....(sexist comment removed)

[gearbox]

Is this in Australia? The Aussie police and pollies are too dum to figure this out{maybe revenue is the problem though!} much to be said for Mark Skaiffe~s ideas,I would vote for him if he was a polly

[gman017]

Decent ruling, but I can't help thinking ...if it had been a male driver....(sexist comment removed)

Was thinking the same thing.......at least there is now a precedent should someone else find themselves in similar circumstances

[Whickle]

Interesting. It is not really a precedent. But its step toward making her understand how to control a vehicle on various surfaces, transitioning, speed and braking. Basically, all the things she should have known from the beginning.

I still think the Magistrate will be tough on her.

[seiko1]

I don't think they will be to tough on a country girl in a rural town
I don't want to give away the locale in case I'm not supposed to

[Gosling1]

Decent ruling, but I can't help thinking ...if it had been a male driver....(sexist comment removed)

Was thinking the same thing.......at least there is now a precedent should someone else find themselves in similar circumstances

If only it worked like that . The problem is that in just about every other case that may have 'similar circumstances', the beak will find enough differences, no matter how small or insignificant they may seem to us........and the decision will be entirely different. And that pattern will be repeated ad infinitum.....the circumstances of this particular incident are unlikely to *ever* be replicated exactly, so that a similar ruling can be made.

This chick happened to get a good judge on a good day. She should buy a lottery ticket.

[dutchy]

I don't think they will be to tough on a country girl in a rural town
I don't want to give away the locale in case I'm not supposed to

**COUGH**warrnambool**COUGH**

As long as names aren't named it doesn't matter, and names and details are posted in the local paper here once a hearing is finalised.
I dont like posting names random people online for privacy anyway but the location isn't an issue.

[seiko1]

I don't think they will be to tough on a country girl in a rural town
I don't want to give away the locale in case I'm not supposed to

**COUGH**warrnambool**COUGH**

As long as names aren't named it doesn't matter, and names and details are posted in the local paper here once a hearing is finalised.
I dont like posting names random people online for privacy anyway but the location isn't an issue.

Duly Noted Warrnambool boy

[Supafrog]

I'm sorry.. I must have missed it.... But who lives in warnambool... and how many whales have ya harpooned??

[dutchy]

I'm a warrnamboolonian, or warrnamboolian or warrnamboolite.....whatever it is!

[craig]

your a Warnamboolain....(and should always wear fletcher jones kit)......nice law courts helped fit it out some years ago.. good decision by Magistrate...learn how to drive a little more defensively and come back and see me....then i'll pass judgement on your inexperience.....and of course none of us have ever lost control of a vehicle... even after years of "experience"....

solid rock sacred ground