The evidence given before the Coroner as to the cause
of the railway accident at Slough strongly confirms the view we expressed when the Mohegan ' was lost, that experts, especially of a certain age, were as liable as other men, perhaps more liable than other men, to momentary cloudings of the faculties. In popular phrase, they get dazed. The Slough accident was clearly due to disregard of the danger signals, and Woodman, the driver of the Paddington train which smashed into the train standing at Slough, declared in Court that he did not see them. They were there, but he passed on never noticing. He was a man of forty years' experience, he had touched no alcohol that day, and he could offer no explanation except that he had "lost himself in some way." There are very few men over sixty who cannot recall incidents of the same kind in their own career, though, as they were not driving trains, the consequences were less serious. The jury very mercifully, but quite justly, after delivering as their verdict that Woodman was responsible, added the rider that "in their opinion he was suffering from temporary mental aberration." The next difficulty is to decide whether fear of punishment is or is not a check on such aberrations. The Admiralty, we believe, think it is, and we fear the Admiralty is right.
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