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''R v Victor'', an appeal against a conviction by a magistrate, is an important case in South African criminal law, especially as it bears on the defence of automatism. The driver of a motor vehicle was prone to epileptic fits, and knew as much, but nevertheless put himself behind the wheel of a motor car. He suffered a fit while driving and collided with a pedestrian and another car. The court on appeal sustained his conviction by a magistrate on the ground that the negligence which the accused there committed was not so much in the driving of the vehicle, but in his driving at all, knowing of his physical disability. A reasonable person would have foreseen the likelihood of a fit and refrained from driving. The appellant's attorneys were Frank & Joffe. == Facts == Whilst driving a motor-car on a public road, the appellant had sustained an epileptic seizure and lost control of the car, which collided with a pedestrian and with another car. He had been charged and convicted of reckless or negligent driving on a public road in contravention of section 31(1)(a) of the Transvaal Motor Ordinance.〔Ordinance 17 of 1931.〕 His defence was that he was not responsible for his actions because of the seizure. He had suffered from epileptic fits for a period of some thirteen years, but contended that, for certain specified reasons, he did not expect an attack of this nature on the occasion in question, or, alternatively, that he did not expect an attack without a warning feeling, which would have enabled him to take the precaution of bringing the car to a stop. He stated he was 28 years of age and had been driving a car for eight years. His health was normal except that occasionally he suffered from epilepsy. He had had attacks since the age of 14 or 15, and generally had what he called a "warning feeling" five or ten minutes before an attack. There were, he said, times when he had a giddy feeling which was part of the warning; at other times he had this feeling without any attack. He had paid an unlicensed practitioner for four weeks' treatment and was told that he was cured. On the morning of the accident he had had an attack preceded by the usual warning. He stated that he had never before had two attacks on the same day. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「R v Victor」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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