Digger Driver Killed Pedestrian; Fined £75

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30827, 12 August 1965, Page 6

Digger Driver Killed Pedestrian; Fined £75

(New Zealand Press Association)

WELLINGTON, August 11. The driver of the Wellington City Council digger which struck and killed a woman on a pedestrian crossing in Lambton quay on June 15, Arthur Albert Reade, aged 39, was convicted by Mr J. 'D. Kinder, S.M., yesterday of causing death through careless use of the machine. The Magistrate fined Reade £75 and disqualified him from driving for a year with the provision that he can drive in the course of his employment. In a statement Reade said he was travelling at no more than 10 miles an hour, when he braked before the crossing. He had no idea the woman was there until she

was directly in front of the . bucket Reade said that if the bucket was raised, it would I be above the permitted - height. Richard Stent, chief mech- • anical engineer for the coun- - cil, said tests showed that the • driver’s vision would be ob- • scored at a point behind the shovel while it rested on the i special cradle beneath the i driver’s window. i The Magistrate said that it ! was the duty of a driver to • yield the right of way to pedestrians on a crossing, and I that, in spite of Stent's evi- > dence, it was surprising that i if Reade had been keeping a . proper look-out when he ap- ) proached the crossing, he > failed to see the woman.