DAMAGES CLAIMED.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 57, Issue 26, 10 November 1936, Page 3

DAMAGES CLAIMED.

DEATH OF A DAUGHTER. MOTORIST DENIES NEGLIGENCE. (Per Press Association.) WELLINGTON, November 9. Damages assessed at £1250 were claimed to-day in the Supreme Court by the father of Alma Edith McNabb, aged 19, who was killed in a motorcar accident shortly after midnight on August 21. The defendant was the driver of the car, Lewis Donald Jenness, an engineer, of Lower Hutt, who denied several charges of negligence. The plaintiff was Manson Colin McNabb, builder, of Lower Hutt. The Chief Justice (the Rt. Hon. Sir Michael Myers) presided. The statement of claim alleged that Jenness was negligent in the following respects: Driving his car without adequate lights; failing to stop when the lights failed ; allowing a sleeve to catch on the light switch, causing the lights to be extinguished suddenly ; deflecting his car into the ditch on the edge of the roadway; violently turning the car to the right instead of stopping; driving at a speed which, in the circumstances, was excessive; and failing to keep a proper look-out. The gill contributed XBs 6d a week towards the upkeep of her parents and five infant children, continued the 9 statement, and assisted materially in household duties. The statement od defence denied negligence. Jenness said that he had no knowledge whether the girl was thrown violently from the car or not, and contended that her deatli was due to an inevitable accident. The defendant, in evidence, saidi that when the lights went out the car could not have been travelling more than 25 miles an hour. He did not know how Miss McNabb came to fall out of the car. He was watching the road with reasonable care. The Court adjourned.