KILLED BY A CAR

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 51, Issue 133, 18 March 1931, Page 3

KILLED BY A CAR

SENSATIONAL EVIDENCE. THE DRIVER NOT YET TRACED. (Special to "The Guardian.") WELLINGTON, March 17. Efforts to trace the driver of a car which killed William Edward Tudor, railway employee, aged sixty-one, on the Wellington side of the traffic bridge at Whilyanne <m Sunday, February 15, are being made by the police. Sensational evidence was given at the inquest* held before Mr 11. G. Harper, J.P., in Otaki, William Mowbray, a iarmor living at Waikanae said that between 8.20 and 8.30 p.m. he was standing on a hill a mile and a-half south of the Waikanae Bridge and saw a car coming from the direction of the Waikanae Bridge. The car pulled up, and when it started again the sparks had ceased flying. He noticed that there were no lights on the car but when it was about a quarter ol' a mile down the road the lights came on. The car was a three-sea ter, but witness could not swear to its colour as it was too dark. William F. J. Blakison, New Zealand advertising manager of the Atlantic Union Oil Company, said that he was returning from Levin to Wellington in. his car when he was held up just past the Waikanae Bridge by several cars. When he stopped he was inI'ormed that an accident bad occurred and.a man had been killed by a motorcar.' He was also informed that the driver of the car had dri??n on towards Wellington. Witness then said be would endeavour to overtake him. Before starting he noticed what appeared to be the glass from a. headlight, and came to the conclusion that he would have to look for a car with only one headlight burning. He set off at a terrific speed and overtook about twenty cars between the scene of the accident and Tawa Flat and every one of them had both headlights burning. Between Porirua and Tawa Flat he came up behind a dark-coloured Ford roadster which was heavily coated with dust. He noticed that the front bumper of the car had been removed and was neTng carried in the dickie seat. He assumed that it was the car he was looking for and pulled up in front of it. He then saw that only the righthand headlight was burning. He made three attempts to stop the driver of the car, and eventually did so at Tawa Flat. From the time he first sighted the car until he stopped it, it was driven on the proper side of the road at from :50 to 35 miles per hour. There was nothing to indicate careless driv-

ing- • When the two cars had stopped witness went over to the driver and told him that he had killed a man at Waikanae. He then examined the car with the driver, who told witness that he did not know that the front headlight ot the car was out. Witness told the driver of the car he bad taken his number and as he was going to give it to the police it would be advisable for him to go into town and report at the central police station. The number of the car was 158-805, and the driver volunteered his name Dickson. Mr Dickson was anxious to turn the car and go back to Waikanae, but witness pointed out to him that it would be too late as the body would have been removed. lit the opinion of Mr Blakiston, it would have been utterly impossible for a car such as Mr Dickson's to be damaged as much as it was without the driver's knowing of it. The inquest was then adjourned to hear further evidence. A verdict was returned that deceased met his death through a fracture of the base of the skull by being knocked over bv a motor-car on February 15.