ACCIDENT NEAR ASHBURTON

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25179, 9 May 1947, Page 5

ACCIDENT NEAR ASHBURTON

NEGLIGENCE ALLEGED CAR DRIVER ON , TRIAL The hearing of a charge of negligently driving a motor-car and causing bodily injury, to two persons at Ashburton on March 29, was begun in the Supreme Court before Mr Justice Fleming yesterday. The accused was Arthur John Burmester, who was represented by Messrs R. A. Young and L. A. Charles. Mr A. W. Brown represented the Crown. Burmester pleaded not guilty to the charge. Opening the case for the Crown, Mr Brown said that on the night the accident occurred, Mr and Mrs Glenie and their young son were cycling to Tinwald. All the bicycles were properly equipped with lights, white mudguards, and red rear reflectors. As they approached the railway bridge, Mr Glenie cautioned his companions to ride in single file. The accident happened on the approach to the bridge. Evidence would be called to show that all the cyclists were close to the left-hand side of the road, the father being right off the bitumen. Glenie had heard a car approaching and felt a blow on his leg which had thrown him off his bicycle. His wife’s cycle in front of him was struck by the car which continued on down the road for some distance before stopping. He had not been badly hurt and went to the assistance of his wife, who he thought was dead. In a statement to the police accused had Raid • that he had had two whiskies at Chertsey earlier in the afternoon and had been examined by a doctor. The doctor had come to the conclusion that accused was slightly under the influence of liquor, but was not intoxicated as far as driving was concerned. He had been sufficiently under the influence of alcohol "to affect his reactions in an emergency." Accused had also stated that he had been dazzled by the lights of an oncoming car. The question for the jury to decide was whether or not accused had- been negligent—had he exercised reasonable care? said Mr Brown. Medical Evidence Noel Godfrey, a medical practitioner on the staff of the Ashburton Public Hospital, said that Mrs Glenie was admitted suffering from shock, concussion, and fractures, and was still ,in the hospital. Glenie had been treated for shock and abrasions. John Connor, a medical practitioner, said he had been called to the scene of the accident and had later been called to the police station to examine Burmester for .the effects of alcohol. In the memory test, accused had not appeared to remember the flay of the week. He had found that accused was fit to drive a car but that his reactions would be slowed up in a time of emergency. To Mr Charles he said that accused had shown signs of shock and had reacted to the tests very well. His Honour: Would the two whiskies taken some hours before you examined him be responsible for his condition? Witness: That depends on the size of the whiskies. Geoffrey Lance Glenie, aged nine years, said he was riding in front of his mother and father, on the gravel and close to the railings when the accident occurred. "I heard a bang and rode over to the railings. I was just getting my leg ovdr the seat when the bike was taken from under me,” he said. To Mr Young he said that just before the accident he was riding on the bitumen. When he heard the bang he had ridden to the railings and was just dismounting when the cycle was. taken from under him, by being hit by a car, he thought. The hearing will be continued to-day.