CYCLIST'S DEATH.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 44, 22 February 1932, Page 10

CYCLIST'S DEATH.

TAMAKI DRIVE ACCIDENT.

WOMAN EXONERATED

COMMENTS BY MAGISTRATE.

As the sequel to the fatal accident on Tamaki Drive at the intersection of Orakei Road, on the morning of December 13, when a young man named William Henry Mitchell Lovell, who was riding a cycle, collided with a motor car driven by Mrs. Anna Pauline Sheath, and died later in hospjtal as the result of the injuries he received, Mrs. Sheath appeared before Mr. F. K. Hunt, S.M., at the Police Court to-day, charged with negligently driving a car, thereby causing the death of Lovell, failing to give way to right-hand traffic, and cutting a corner. Accused, who was represented by counsel, pleaded not guilty to all charges. Companion's Evidence. Cordon Eric Smith said he was cycling with Lovell, who was a chain ahead, and travelling at a normal pace. The first thing witness noticed wab th<> nose of a car coming from Orakei. Lovell ran alongside the car against the fenders and was knocked over. According to the marks on the road, accused must have stopped her car quickly. After he struck the rear window of the car, Lovell fell on the road. Lovell tried to swing around the car.

Chief Detective Hammond said he visited the scene of the accident shortly afterwards, and saw Mrs. Sheath. The wheel marks of a car which had come out of Orakei Road were visible in the metal. The cycle was a light racing machine of high gear. There was a considerable breeze blowing in the direction in which the cyclists were proceeding. He examined Mrs. Sheath's car and found the glass in the rear window was broken. The brakes were in good order. Mrs Sheath made a statement, and said she was in the act of turning from Orakei Road into the Drive, and had just sounded her horn, when she saw Lovell. He looked up and came straight at her car, striking the rear door. He was riding fast with his head down. Charges Dismissed. After hearing a number of Witnesses, Mr. Hunt remarked that quite rightly the police had made the fullest investigation. On the charge of negligent driving, causing death, there was no evidence to warrant sending accused for trial. "The corner where the accident occurred is a most dangerous one, so much so that a silent policeman was placed there," added Mr. Hunt. "But it is yet a dangerous corner, as there is no footpath on the side where the accident occurred. Mrs. Sheath appears to have been proceeding slowly and the accident, in my opinion, was contributed to largely by the unfortunate young cyclist, who, with his head down over the handlebars, could not see the motor car coming out of Orakei Road, as he was too close into the bank."

All three charges were dismissed.