THE CASE OF THE MISSING HOOTER

September 19th 1919

This is the earliest case I can find that involves my great grandfather.

One of the things that has struck me in looking back at cases from the early to mid nineteen twenties are the huge amounts of traffic cases that were brought before the court. One of the things levelled at modern Police forces are the numbers of traffic matters pursued; it's common for some people to claim that Police target motorists because they are an "easy option" or because the fines are thought to be revenue raising.

If anything, I think the Police in 1919 were much more likely to tackle traffic matters. Aside from the case I am about to write about, there were other reports such as the case in which a poor cattle-herder was prosecuted for being asleep at the helm of his horse-drawn hay cart at 2.30 am on St. Peters Hill!

In this case however, the miscreant, Walter Vollum, had the misfortune to drive dangerously along Swinegate at 9.45 pm and right under the nose of Constable Bramhall. He came rocketing around a corner - at an estimated speed of 5mph (!), and without sounding his hooter. Once stopped, he expressed his regret, but said his hooter was "out of order". As if the depths of his criminality - the rampant speed, the lack of ....hooting... wasn't enough, it was discovered that his driving licence had expired.

Incredibly, it seems as if he must have really rubbed up the magistrates the wrong way, because in total they fined him a whopping 50s.

#traffic #speeding #1919

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