The courtesies of the road and the practice of certain motorists of racing their engine declutched to frighten ricsha men were referred to at H.M. Police Court on Saturday. Mr. G. W. King had before him Leon Saphiere, of 23 Avenue Edward VII, upon a sum unions charging him with improperly driving his car in Nanking Road at 11.20 p.m, on August 12, and further with failing to stop te ascertain the extent of damage or injury done after being involved in an accident. A fine of $5 was P. OG. Visser stated that he was riding in a ricsha behind another in which was P. C. Dudley. When they neared Shantung Road corner, witness heard the sound of a motor horn behind him. The car passed shim. =The next thing he saw was the ricsha ahead of him striking the kerb and the occupant pitched on te the pavement. While he was on the ground the occupant shout-od to the driver of the car, It passed them at an excessive speed in view of the fact that the road war partially blocked at the time by a number of coolies engaged in repairing the wooden blocks. Witness's ricsha was obliged to dodge into Shantung Road. Had he gone straight on he would have been it danger from the car. Witness was unable to estimate the specd at which the car was travelling. The weather was rainy and the road slippery.
P. OG. Dudley, in evidence, contended that the car was travelling at w dangerous speed. He would undoubtedly have been struck by the car had his ricsha not gone on to the pavement.
Cross-examined by Mr. C. Mansel Recco (defending) witness did not agree that because he was able to shout, it was perfectly obvious that ho had sustained no jury. Had he broken his arm he would have still been able to shout.
Mr. Reece asked for the dismissal of the ease on the grounds that the charges were frivolous and arose, if not from frivolity, from. a mistake on the part of the police. It was a mistake for which uno blame could be attached tio them. Defendant was charged on on the summons under tio sections of that voluminous catalogue of misdemeanors, the traffic regulations. He was an experienced driver and his car a very powerful one. When he got into "the narrows" where the coolies were working be was travelling at about six miles an hour. There was a car in front of him. He never passed that car. It would require only the experience of a child to know that he could not pass a
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