On the 9 July 1979  whilst on duty and being a serving member of the New South Wales Police Force my life would change forever when I was involved in a motor vehicle collision.  At the time I was the driver of a Police motor vehicle on evening shift and in the early hours of the morning my partner along with his offsider observed car load of young juveniles which aroused our curiosity. After a time working the streets, you do develop a kind of sixth sense for things that don't seem right and we wanted to speak to these youths. We lost sight of this vehicle for awhile but had a fair idea what road they  would take and drove towards that direction. When we eventually turned into that street and a short time later we saw that the vehicle was some distance away. My partner who was the senior man gave me instructions that we were about to give chase as this vehicle when we observed that the vehicle had now picked up considerable speed. I say about to because there was no speed involved in my part because a split second after he had made his decision a motor vehicle collided with us. Let me say at this point that it would take a Police Officer to understand these type of  on the spot judgement calls. A Police Officer does not have the luxury of being able to sit back and make determination after the fact which is what happened to me and what happens to Police personnel all the time. These decisions are not done carelessly and usually undertaken by the senior man who has the experience behind him/her and gives you the orders. This night was no different I was working with a very responsible and competent Police Officer and I trusted him.

I entered an intersection governed by control lights where this collision occurred. These were the steps taken before I entered this  intersection. My partner had just activated our alternating siren and flashing lights  when we were a short distance away from the traffic lights it turned to amber. At this point we were not even going fast and I had already decelerated as a precaution. This all happening within a short distance away from an intersection and let me assure you that had I not been struck by this offending motor vehicle which came from the left . I would have had both the opportunity and the amber light in my favour from the departure side of this intersection. In other words, I could have gone past that intersection unimpeded with the amber light still in my favour.  However, this vehicle which came from my left struck the middle nearside portion of our car with such an amount of force that it spun us around sending us some 30 feet away mounting the foothpath  with  our vehicle now pointing the opposite direction. At this time my partner then contacted the Police radio informing them of the collision requesting Police and ambulance attend. I got out of the vehicle and walked towards the offending panel van to make sure that everyone was okay. I opened the passenger door and several empty cans of beer fell out of the van. I leant over to check the driver and to see if he was okay as he was unconscious. I checked his breathing and he smelt strongly of alcohol. I picked up the empty cans off the street as I knew this would be crucial and I noted half a carton of beer on the floor with a number of empties.

When the supervising Sergeant arrived the first thing I said to him was " There is liquor involved in this collision and I left it at that. " and I walked away. I was very dazed and confused and experiencing severe pain to my back where my open holster had dug in and fractured my left rib. I kept claiming I was okay and only attended  the Hospital for observation. They had no x-ray facilities available at that time of the morning so I had one done locally where my injury was discovered. I was off on sick report  for some time and when I returned to duty I discovered that the accident was adjudicated as ' No Police Action Conflicting Statements'. In other words they could not determine who was in the wrong. 

Three Police officers gave supporting statements against two civilians claiming they had an amber light. The driver of the other vehicle and read this very carefully and take it all in. He  says to the investigating Police Officer words to this effect " I can't remember what happened I don't know the colour of the lights at the time " . As this accident occurred in my own backyard, I knew all the Police Officers and I had the opportunity and was given every chance by my colleagues to say the lights where green. That would have been the end of story simple as that, no arguments, no conflicts the lights where simply green. Silly me said no ! The lights were in fact amber and it was still amber when we entered the intersection. It is not an offence to enter an intersection with an amber light particularly when you are practically on top when it turns to amber. Anyone is allowed to do that.  Then it was mentioned to me that I had used the words feet instead of metres. I was asked if  I wanted  to change that part of my statement ? I once again said no because I had in fact pointed to the investigating officer the portion of roadway where the lights turned to amber. I felt you couldn't get more accurate then that. By actually pointing to the spot. Not about two, three, six metres away but a more precise for of measurement. I pointed directly to the spot.  

You may well ask why did I choose to use feet instead of metres  ? Because at this time we were still at that ( or at least I was ) phase of adapting to a new way of measuring which was from feet to metres. In all honesty I thought it would make no difference to my evidence as you can ask most of the Police Officers of that time how he measured his point of impact. He paced it with his stride. When we changed to metres, we still paced it with our stride but now said metres. But off course this practice was never adopted when one  attended a serious or fatal motor vehicle collision. I merely gave my statement the way I spoke . 

What made matters even worst was the Supervising Sergeant who attended was inexperienced  investigating motor vehicle accidents. Particularly as serious as this one. His driver for the evening had just returned to uniform after many years as a Detective so the noose was closing in on me. No blame can go to these officers because they too were caught up in a promotional system which allowed this to happen and to my detriment . A system which allowed them to be there the first place. The time when an accident occurs is the most crucial and a great deal of evidence was lost. And please do not forget what I had said earlier, " There was liquor involved in this accident Sergeant "  . No that's right the driver was not blood tested. Off course this was not revealed during the Court case, along with his earlier traffic conviction, yes that's right !!! Disobey Traffic Control Lights. You are not allowed to say any of this.  Here a bit of information to add credibility to my story although too late for me.  The night prior to this collision, this same supervising sergeant contacted us over the police radio because he had come across a driver committing an offence. And you may already be one step ahead of me here . Yes that's right he did not know what to do.   

Off course there is also the court case where you are not allowed to introduce this type of evidence and a Judge that was intimidating at every opportunity. There is the driver of the other vehicle who gives evidence and now has become not only articulate. But it appears with the ever increasing years which had elapsed his memory had improved. How did that all happen and why did no one see through it ? He alleges that he was stopped at a green light and he drove off.  Ask yourself this ? How does a vehicle that is in a stationary position manage to drive off  and would have only traveled a very short distance of  two to three metres before the collision manage to generate so much momentum that it causes such extensive damage to our motor vehicle ? If you examine photographs of  the motor vehicle the damage is without a doubt quite extensive. It was done with great force. For him to travel the distance he claims. That is from a stationary position to the  point of impact does not equate.

I am told that there are certain ways you can make a determination in this instance if you are not certain as to who is at fault. One of them is you convert this intersection into one not governed by traffic control lights to give both parties the benefit of the doubt. You then must give way to the person on your right. In other words the driver of the other vehicle should have given way to me as I was on the right. The other option is you place one party for example 60 percent in the wrong and the other party 40 percent in the wrong. This was not the case for me. I was truly stunned as I would have thought the Judge although not aware of all the facts I have mentioned should have given us Police Officers some degree of latitude. Why ? Because we have only split seconds to make these  judgment calls and secondly there was no pursuit. There was no time for that. There was no speed involved. The Supreme Court also ruled against me but then again all they heard were the arguments they did not hear nor speak to me personally. For that matter neither did the Presiding Judge in my matter. He was downright rude from the moment he spoke to me. You can be a person of authority. But that does not give you the right to be rude and to look down on a person. I was chastised and embarrassed as to why I did not produce one of my witnesses. He is a Judge and he should know that is not my responsibility. That is up to my solicitor. There was a lot of posturing and I daresay it was for someone's behalf certainly not mine. I will not go on any further as I am told this is over. I am suppose to just bow and agree to all this which I  have all these years.

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