§ MR. REMNANT (Finsbury, Holborn)I beg to ask the President of the Local 1020 Government Board if his attention has been called to the decision of the Appeal Court, in the case of the Wokingham Magistrates v. the Earl of Craven, in which it was decided that the owner of a motor-car is not compelled to disclose the name of the driver of the car in cases of furious driving; and if he will take steps to prevent the abuse of the roads by those who have no consideration for the public; and, also, if he is aware that Lord Craven was himself driving the car at the time of the offence.
§ THE PRESIDENT OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARD (Mr. GERALD BALFOUR, Leeds, Central)I have seen the report in The Times of the hearing of this case in the Divisional Court, but I have no other information on the subject, and I do not know who was driving the motor-car on the occasion referred to in the Question. From the report in The Times, I do not gather that the decision was to the effect stated by my hon. friend. The conviction appears to have been quashed on the ground of its uncertainty, in that it did not sufficiently allege that an offence had been committed by the driver. It might, as I understand, have been upheld if the reference in it to the rule in the regulations had been omitted, and it had been alleged that the driver had offended against Sub-section (1) of Section 1 of the Act. The case does not seem to me to show that the existing law is in itself defective.