Kelt, a merchant banker, was driving a 1994 Toyota Corolla in St Aubyn St East, central Hastings, about 8am on May 4.Is this a sign of the sea of troubles in which the finance industry is sinking - A millionaire merchant banker drives an unwarranted 1994 Corolla owned by his company? Or is it merely further evidence that rich people think the law does not apply to them? And they would be right on that score, given the sentence in this case: a $500 fine against a millionaire, a sum which probably he would recoup in interest earned while walking from the bank to the magistrates' court, and the careless driving charge dropped.
As he entered a roundabout he failed to notice a 13-year-old cyclist on his right and collided with him.
Doubtless the Sensible Sentencing Trust will not be spluttering about this case, given that the perp is rich and clearly not a member of the criminal class. Besides, he gave the kid a new bike, so what's the damage?
4 comments:
Warren Buffett drives a plain 2001 Lincoln, so it's no surprise to me.
Toyotas are very reliable.
He didn't even bother to attend court Paul as the Stuff report attests. He did buy the kid a new bike and he didn't flee the scene. Also the kid wasn't hurt. I agree it could have been worse but you can't do someone for careless use of a motor vehicle causing injury if there were no injuries sustained.
i agree with what George points out, flash cars break down as to a lot of the gadgets they come with now. Also old cars are cheap to service. These people got rich by caring about things like this instead of throwing their money at fripperies. The car will be company's for tax reasons, again more fiscal prudence.
In the people's republic of Aotearoa when everyone is given what they need some will use it all up in a couple of days then complain about those who budgeted and even had some gruel base left over. This is human nature, you cannot legislate against it. The Soviets tried, the Chinese tried, the Khmer Rouge tried. They all failed.
They got him by the Al Capone method: tax evasion. Even though the car was not 'his' they got him for drving it unregistered.
A 1994 Corolla isn't exactly the new hotness, but it's recent enough not to be an embarrassment as a company vehicle.
They look quite smart if you get one that's well looked after. They are also more or less mechanically indestructible.
Not warranting it probably saved the company some money too...
I notice Mr Kelt says he offered a guilty plea only to spare the boy a trip to court, otherwise he would have defended the charge of failing to give way. You'd think the fact he ran into the person he was meant to be giving way to would be reasonably clear evidence of a failure to give way, but I guess a bloke who lies for a living wouldn't see a problem with defending it.
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