CYCLIST'S DEATH.

Press, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20630, 20 August 1932, Page 4

CYCLIST'S DEATH.

LAMP ALLEGED TO BE UN LIGHTED. SUPREME COURT THIAL. j •That the authorities be approached i to more strongly enforce the present regulations regarding tjio t\ l x - | bicycle lamp used." This was the text I of a rider which the jury added to | a. verdict of not guilty m the case j in which Kobort Alfred Hartley was j charged with alleged negligent driving , ol; a motor-truck s>o as to cause • death of Alfred Thomas Sturgeon. The j ease was beard in the fcupremo Court • before tho Chief Justice, the IM. Hon. j Sir .Aiichael Myers. / Opening the case tlic Crow u Prosecu- j 'tor saiU mat tne road at tlio scene of the acciueut was straight. A strip { of bitumen ran between metal strips . Tile hJtumen was i-'O leeti Hide. A t>ido i street, Uodlcy avenue, was near tho j scene ' Tho tune was about 5 p.m. o» ; Juno yt'h. Accused was travelling m j a southerlv direction in a motor-lorry , on'tho .Main North road, with a motor- > ear ahead of him. He drew out to ] pass and did pass tho car, and col- j iicled head-on with Sturgeon, who was cycling north on his correct side, killing linn. . , I Tho negligence alleged was (1) tliat tho motor-lorry was travelling too | fast- (2) the driver should havo seen j tho'cyclist: (3) tho driver was not keeping a proper look-out. i

Tlie Evidence. Dr. 1. l>. Gobble, house surgeon at j tlio Christeluirch Public Hospital, said j that on Juno sth, Sturgeon, was ad- , mi tied at oMO p.m. unconscious. Ho I died at 7.30 a.m. on Juno 6th from a j fraetui'O oi' tho skull and laceration ot j tho brain. , | Percy Leonard McMillan, a grocer s i assistant, of Saltwater creek, gave cvi- ) denco that at 5.0 p.m. on June sth ho was driving a motor-car south along tho Main North road approaching Godlev avenue. Witness «'as travelling between 20 and 25 miles an hour. The night was clear, but rain had fallen. No cyclist was to bo seen. A motorlorry pulled out to pass witness's motor-car, leaving a gap of six to oiglit feet. Tho inotor-lorry was well over on tho incorrect side of tho bitumen, and a little'in front, when there was a crash as tho motor-lorry hit a evelist. Tho motor-lorry was travelling at 30" to 35 miles an hour in passing. Accused said after tho accident that he was travelling at 3a miles an hour and had not seen the cyclist until 0110 of tho passengers called out. To counsel for accused witness said he did not see tho cyclist himself. Wet bitumen made for poor visibility. ; A passenger in McMillan's car. liiehard Gleeson, a welder, of Madras | street, said that he was in the front j seat wtih McMillan, and could see j tho cyclist approaching, but did not 1 notico a lamp alight, on the bicycle, j Hartley had very good lights, and it , was in the beam of them that witness j first saw the approaching cyclist. The ; motor-lorry was travelling at 30 to 35 miles an hour. Tlio collision was head-on in tho centre of the motorlorry's radiator. Horace Yaxley, a labourer, of Woodend, another passenger in McMillan's car, did not soe the collision but found a broken lamp thrown from tho bicycle. The brakes of tho motor-lorry had been applied 8 yards before the impact, and it had taken <1 further 10 yards to pull up. Constable E. E. Warren, of Papanm, who was called to tho scene of the accident, gave evidence as to measurements of tho road at the point of impact. The left-hand headlight of the motor-lorry was broken and the radiator dented so that the fan had difficulty in revolving. Tho right-hand side lamp was also twisted. Isobel Munro, a single woman, of Papanui, said that tho cyclist was pedalling into a wind with his head slightly do^yn. Verdict of Not Guilty. Counsel for accused submitted in his address that there was no proof of negligence on any of tho points alleged. The Chief Justice said that the Crown had contended that Hartley's speed in passing the other car was excessive, but ic did not appear to him that this was the case, for unless a man. accelerated it was impossible for him to pass another car. Ho did not want to take the ease out of tho jury's hands, but as the Crown Prosecutor had admitted, it was not a strong one. The evidenco appeared to show that the cyclist had no light. After a short retirement tho jury returned a verdict of not guilty, adding a rider that the authorities be approached to enforce more strongly the present regulations regarding the type of bicycle lamp used. Tho Chief Justice said that ho thought that tho ridor was a very proper one. He himself had had opportunity to see that unlighted bicycles were a menace on tho road, no promised that tho rider would be forwarded to tho Minister for Justice and also to tlio Minister for Internal Affairs.