HE AUTOCAR. J ULY I ST, t905.

5

and carefully, but it is also the duty of foot passengers to use due care and caution in going upon a crossing, so as not to recklessly get among motors or ca.rriages. Tf a foot passenger rushed into the carriageway or upon a crossing without exercising due care and caution, and without giving heed as to whether any vehicles were coming along, and collided with a motorist who was driving along cautiously and carefully. the foot passenger ,rnuld be clearly held alone to blame fo r the accident.

Duty of Motorists to keep a Good Look-out. " I t is equally the duty of foot passengers to look out for ,·ehicles 11·hen crossing a street, as it is the duty of dri,·ers to look out fo r foot passengers." So said Lord Coleridge. In an a tion for damages by a husband whose wife had been knocked dmrn by the defendant's waggon, Cockburn, C. J. , said that he quite concurred in the necessity of foot pass,encrers, when crossing a public thoroughfare, looking b;fore them to see that they did not heedlessly and recklessly run into danger; but that on the other hand no one could dispute the duty of a driver, who was about to turn into a street where there was a public crossing, to proceed carefully and look to see that no one was cro sing at the time. This is in accordance with the rule laid clown by Pollock, C. B., and by Erie, C. J., in 11·ords almost similar to those used by Lord Coleridge, " Tha.t it is equally the duty of foot passengers in crossing a highway to take due caution to a.void vehicles, as it is for the drivers of vehicles to take due caution to avoid foot passengers."

Necessary to do more than simply give Warning. Motori ts are required to do more than merely give warning to foot passengers to get out of their way, if they wish to be exonerated from responsibility for accid~nt . They must do al I that is pos ible to avoid accident, and if there is danger, and especially if they are signalle<l to, they should forthwith stop their car. Mel !or. J .. emphasises this point in the case of a trial for manslaughter, where a man had driYen over a woman. who either did not hear or disregarded his warning cry or had become confused, when he sa id . "It was not enough for a man driving merely to call out as he proceeded in order to warn people crossing, but it was his duty, in the interests of life and limb, to take the greatest possible care how he dro,·e; and if foot passenger exercised their rights with reasonable care, it was the duty of persons driYing- to stop where there was danger, and to do all they could to avoid accidents." Stephen, J., in a similar case, where the person killed was infirm, deaf, and paralysed, in summing up, remarked that it could not be made known too widely that the King's highway was quite as much fo r pedestrians as for d rivers of ,·ehicles, and it was the duty of those ,vho drm·e horses to take care of the public, and not the duty of the public to look out for persons who were driving at an excessive and dangerous pace. It was a ru.atter which concerned the li ,·es and limbs of the public, 11·hose business or duty called them into the streets of London, the old and infirm equally with the young and strong, and it ought to be thoroughly well understood by all.

Brakeless Motorists.

Motorists who drive without brakes, or whose brake will not act, are perhaps in the worst position of all as regards foot passengers and accidents. They are like the driver of a horse whose reins break.

Patterson• . J. , had an action before him where the driver's reins had broken, an I after stating the law in regard to foot passengers who are crossing the road, said, "If a per·on driving along the road cannot pull up because his reins break, that will be no ground of defence, as he is bound to have proper tackle." Many judges would hold that a motorist who drove without brakes, or with brakes out of order, would be prima facie guilty of negligence, apart altogether from the fact that it is an offence against the Motor Car Acts.

Foot Passengers under Obvious Disability. .-\ greater degree of caution is required from dri,·ers of motor C3r3 in the ea e of persons crossing or being upon the c~rriage,rny who are under an obvious disability, such as old age, infancy, lameness, drunkenness, or the like. The duty of avoiding such persons is greater than if they were persons of ordinary < .:apacity. But if a foot passenger were suffering from some defect not easily noticeable, such as blindness or deafness, then no more than average care is requisite on the part of motor car drivers using the highways.

Care to be Used Proportionate to the Apparent Risk. Motor car drivers must exercise care and caution in proportion to the apparent risk, and remember that in the case of accidents happening to foot passengers a presumption of negligence on the motorist's part always exists in the minds of judges and juries, which can only be removed by ample proof to the contrary.

The Rule of the Road.

When driving, the rule of the road should be obsen·ed as far as e,·er possible, but it has no application as between motor cars on the one hand and passengers walking on the carriageway on the other h:rnd. for. as regards foot pa sengers. a motor car may go on either side of the road. It is only right to o!Jserve that in one case in which a ,·erdict had been found for the defendant-who was driving on the 11-rong side of the road in a carriage so constructed that he could only see straight in front of him, and ran OYer a foot passenger crossing the road-it was contended on the part of the pedestrian that the fact of the driver being on the wrong side of the road was some e,·idence of careless driving, as his carriage came upon the pedestrian at a spot where he had no reason to expect a carriage to be. Cockburn, C. J., refused a new trial, but remarked that there was a good deal to be said on both sides of the question.

Motor Car Drivers and Tram Cars. E,·ery driYer of a motor car should keep a very careiul look-out when meeting and passing tramcars. It is a common thing for pedestrians and passengers immediately a tramcar passes them to rush behind it to cross the road, heedless of the traffic coming in the opposite directi_on. It is a very safe practice to sound the horn before and on meeting tramcars, in accordan:--e with the practice that most tramway companies ha,·l~ of instructing their clri,·ers as to sounding their gongs when meeting and passing other tramcars. It should be known. ho,rnver, that a person dismounting from a tramcar is bound just as much to look after his own safety as if he were crossing from one side of the street to the other. J\Iotori ts should, however, dri,·e very carefully 11·hen they notice tramcars in front of them that are about to stop, as people are exceedingly careless when alighting from tramcars, and seldom look out fo r any traffic that may be approaching them from the rear.