MOTORIST FINED £20

Press, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 26529, 18 September 1951, Page 4

MOTORIST FINED £20

NEGLIGENT DRIVING CHARGE

SMALL BOY’S DEATH AT ASHBURTON

On a charge of negligent driving, causing the death of Warwick lan Amos, William Arthur Skilling, aged 20, a contractor, of 13 Manse street Ashburton, was convicted and fined £2O by Mr E. A. Lee, S.M., in the Magistrate’s Court at Ashburton yesterday. In addition. Skilling’s driving licence was cancelled and he Was prohibited from obtaining another for two years. Skilling, who was represented by Mr V. W. Russell, pleaded not guilty. Senior-Sergeant C. H. Reardon, for the prosecution, said that Warwick Amos, a small boy. had suffered fatal injuries in a collision between two light trucks at the intersection of South street and Chalmers avenue, Ashburton, about 10 a.m. on Sunday, August 12. It was a fine sunny day. and there was no other traffic at the time of the accident. The prosecution was based on the grounds that Skilling had failed to give way to traffic on his right, had not exercised necessary consideration at the intersection, and knew that the brakes on his vehicle were not comSletely efficient, Senior-Sergeant eardon said. lan Blair Amos, father of the boy, said his truck approached the intersection at between 20 miles an hour and 25 miles an hour on the correct side of the road, with his son standing on the floorboards in the cab. Amos had looked to his right at the intersection when his wife called: “Look out.” Looking to his left, he saw a truck roughly on the crown of the road, about 12 feet to 15 feet away. He could give no estimate of the speed of Skilling’s truck. He did not have time to brake before the impact, which swung his truck through a 90-degree turn and capsized it. His son apparently struck his head on the open door and was flung out through the door on to the roadway. Graham Harold Ransom, aged 13, said at the time of the accident he was standing on the side of South street about three chains from the intersection. Skilling’s truck passed him on the correct side of the road, travelling at a moderate speed, but seemed to accelerate slightly at the intersection.

He had tested the brakes on Skilling’s truck and found that the truck could not pull up within the regulation distance, said Wallace Harold Nelson Broadhurst, vehicle inspector to the Transport Department, Ashburton.

Skilling had told him that his brakes were constantly checked, but only remained fully effective for about a fortnight after each check, said Constable L. N. Snowden. The brakes on Skilling’s truck were last checked on J“ ne , 2 9. Skilling had told witness that he knew the brakes were not in good order before the accident. Mr C. L. Tucker, relieving medical superintendent at the Ashburton Public Hospital, said that Warwick Amos, aged two years and five months, had been admitted to the hospital about 10 a.m. on August 12. suffering from shock and a compound injury to the left side of the skull. He was given treatment, but died about 1 a.m. the following day. the cause of death being a depressed fracture of the skull with severe lacerations to the brain. Evidence of Defendant He had approached the intersection cn the correct side of the road at about 25 miles an hour, said Skilling in evidence. His view ot the corner was obstructed by a grass mound and a pile of bricks. About 10 yards or 15 yards from the corner he saw the cab of Amos’s truck. He swerved slightly to the left and applied his brakes, out nothing happened, and a collision occurred. He considered he would probably have avoided the collision if his brakes had been properly working. Skilling denied that he had fold Constable Snowden that he knew his brakes were faulty. The brakes on his truck had last been repaired on June 29 and had proved satisfactory in Christchurch three days before the accident, when the truck was heavily laden. Skilling said *‘l am inclined to the view that when the defendant left home he knew his brakes were defective. He could not possibly have had confidence In his brakes.” said the Magistrate. “He approached the intersection at 25 to 30 miles an hour, which is in my view much too high a speed for any driver having any doubt of his brakes. At the speed he was travelling, and in the condition of his brakes, he had no chance of avoiding a collision. Defendant had shown negliL en , ce i ?.„ thr S e :, w ? ys ' said the Magistrate. He failed to give way and approached the intersection at .too great a speed in the conditions. I am satisfied he was not keeping a proper look-