11 Ga. App. 769 | Ga. Ct. App. | 1912
The indictment alleged that the accused operated an automobile on one of the public highways “at a rate of speed greater than was reasonable and proper, having regard to the traffic and use of the said highway, and then and there, upon approaching a certain pair of mules hitched to and driven to a certain wagon
In Hayes v. State, ante, 371 (75 S. E. 523), we held, that “A penal law which is of doubtful construction and in which the act denominated 'as a crime is described in terms so general and indefinite as to make the question of criminality dependent upon the idiosyncrasies of the men who may happen to constitute the court and jury, and is of such a nature that honest and intelligent men are unable to ascertain what particular act it seeks to condemn, is incapable oi enforcement, and' will be held to be null and void. So much of the act approved August 13, 1910 (Acts 1910, p. 92), regulating the use of automobiles, as undertakes to make penal the operation of an automobile on one of the highways of this State at a rate of speed greater than is reasonable and proper, having regard to the traffic and use oi such highway, or so as to endanger the life or limb of any person or the safety of any property/ is too uncertain and indefinite in its terms to be capable of enforcement.” Under this decision, no offense was charged in that part of the indictment wherein it was alleged that the machine was being operated “at a rate of speed greater than is reasonable and proper, having regard to the traffic and use of the said highway.” But we think this language may be regarded as harmless surplus-age, if an offense is set forth elsewhere in the indictment. It is alleged that the accused failed to give the signal of his approach required by the act approved August 13, 1910 (Acts 1910, p. 92). Section 6 oi. that act is as follows: “Be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that upon approaching a pedestrian in a roadway or highway as described in' this act, or a horse or horses or other draft animals being ridden or driven thereon, the .person operating the machine shall give reasonable warning of its approach by the use oí a bell, horn, gong, or other signal, and use every reasonable precaution to insure the safety oi such person or animal, and in the caso ol horses or other draft animals, to prevent frightening th? same.”
Judgment affirmed.