Bus driver threatened after death of motor-cyclist

Press, 27 August 1977, Page 6

Bus driver threatened after death of motor-cyclist

The driver of a Christchurch Transport Board bus (was threatened after a fatal accident on Moorhouse Avenue on April 25, the Coroner’s Court was told yesterday. John Malcolm McClintock, (aged 22, a bus driver told the court that about 11.10 p.m. he was driving east along Moorhouse Avenue. His only passenger was Allan Mitchell, a Transport Board instructor.

The bus was in the left lane and travelling about 20 miles an hour. Mr McClintock signalled his intention to turn left into the bus depot and slowed to about 15 m.p.h. As he reduced speed and changed gear, he felt something bang against the left front corner of the bus and saw a motorcyclist come off his bike and slam into the depot’s concrete block wall. The machine carried on and stopped several yards along the road, and several other motor-cyclists appeared by the bus and behaved in a threatening manner towards him, Mr McClintock said. Both he and Mr Mitchell decided it would be safer to carry on into the depot and call the police and an ambulance.

He said the motor-cycle must have been travelling very fast, and gone inside the bus to overtake. Mr Mitchell said he had been sitting on the left side of the bus, and saw the indicators flash to indicate a left turn. He said several motorcyclists had gathered around the bus after the accident, shouting and using abusive language.

Selwyn Philip Templeton,

aged 20, a waggon overhauler, said he had been riding his motor-cycle along Moorhouse Avenue when one of his companions, Bruce Friend, had tried to overtake a bus. He had not been in a position to see if the bus’s indicators were working The District Coroner (Mr E. B. E. Taylor) decided Mr Friend died because • of diffuse brain damage caused during the accident. DEAFNESS CLUE A brother and sister who were involved in a collision near Rolleston could have died because the young man, who was deaf turned to lipread his sister’s conversation. the Court was told. The Coroner decided James Richard Witham, aged 19. and Marie Louise Witham, aged 17, both died of severe head injuries after their car was in a collision with a Mercedes Benz truck at the intersection of Rolleston-Springston Road and State Highway 1, on June 17. In a statement read to the court, Lindsay James Bagrie, aged 36, a truck driver, of Alexandra, said he was driving his truck towards Christchurch about 7.15 a.m. His lights were on as it was still dark. He saw a car approaching from his left travelling slowly, so he though it was going to stop However it moved through the intersection and Mr Bagrie was forced to swerve right and brake heavily. He felt an impact on the left side of his truck and managed to stop about 60ft

■ away on the wrong side of • the road. The car with ; which he had collided was • entangled in the front : wheels of the truck. Alfred William Berry, aj i police constable, at Burnham, • said the Withams often parked their car on the main road and caught a bus to [ Christchurch, where they ' worked. Mr Witham was deaf, and 1 it was possible he was trying to lip-read his sister’s coni versation. Mr Berry said, or the windows of the car could ' have been fogged up, block- ( ing his vision. \ HEART FAILURE ! The Coroner decided that . Roger Reuben Chamberlain, a taxi-driver, died of acute I heart failure due to non- [ specific myocarditis caused by . a car accident in which he I was involved. ; The Court was told that . Lewis Victor Blair had al- ; ready been convicted in the • Magistrate’s Court of causing i the death of his sister in the , same accident at the intersection of Memorial Avenue > and Russlev Road on March ; 6. f Mr Blair told the Court in • his statement that he had • been travelling home to > Rakaia after attending an enI gagement party in Riccarton with his sister and a friend. ■ He estimated his speed at 48 > m.p.h. when he went through > the intersection, and could re- - member nothing about an ■ accident. j Robert Henry Moore, a 1 police constable, said evidence had been produced in ' the Magistrate’s Court that 1 Blair had driven through a t red light. He said Mr Cham-

Robert Henry Moore, a police constable, said evidence had been produced in the Magistrate’s Court that Blair had driven through a red light. He said Mr Chamberlain was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident, and the post-mortem had shown that he had 73mg of

alcohol per 100 ml of blood. BULLDOZER DEATH A bulldozer driver died on April 24 after his machine overturned and trapped him beneath it at Bush Gully, near Coalgate, the Coroner found. Jeffrey Walter Robertson, aged 21, of Lobum, suffered multiple injuries and had been dead for at least two hours before he was discovered on April 23, the Court was told. Joseph Charles Tripp said in a statement that he had gone pig shooting with two! companions on that day. They ( [heard a loud revving noise J and through a binocular saw! a bulldozer parked at a most! unusual angle. Mr Tripp said that when; they arrived at the scene of the accident a young man was ( pinned under the bulldozer. He was dead. FATAL FALL Brion Douglas Metcalf, aged 25, died from a severe head injury sustained in a fall from a ladder, the Coroner decided. Albert Morehu Rua, a carpenter’s labourer, of Amberley, told the Court that he and Mr Metcalf were working on a bach at Motunau Beach on March 24. About 1.50 pin. Mr Metcalf was standing on an aluminium ladder, when Mr Rua heard a loud cry and the ladder crashed. “I saw the deceased lying on the ground with the right side of his head on a concrete ■ path,” Mr Rua said. Mr Met'calf was unconscious and was 'bleeding from the nose, ear ;and forehead. ; He died in hospital four days later. CAR HIT BOY A seven-year-old boy suftered fatal multiple injuries when he was struck bv a car on Stanmore Road, the 'Coroner decided.

George David Raymond 1 testified that he was driving along Stanmore Road about) 3.10 p.m. on April 4, when! jDavid Kirk Goddard ran out I in front of his car. Mr Raymond said he slammed on his brakes but could j ' not avoid hitting the boy. Julie Marie Donaldson, agedj seven, said she had been) 1 walking home from school) with David Goddard, and saw! him run out in front of a ' car. I The Court was told that • Mr Raymond’s car was well maintained and that he could not be blamed for the accit dent. i CYCLIST HIT ’ The Coroner decided that a ’ cyclist, John Hunt Phillips, [ died from a severe head in- ' jury after he was in collision with a car driven by Errol c Douglas George Scott. ; Mr Scott said he was divI ing his car north along Nurs- » ery Road about 4.30 p.m. on ' June 1. At the intersection of j Nursery Road and Cross ' Street a cyclist in front of him suddenly indicated he was turning right and moved j in front of Mr Scott’s vehicle, j He applied his brakes and . swerved right, but hit the i cyclist, who was knocked on to the bonnet of the car, j where his head hit the wind- ] screen. He then fell on to . the road, Mr Scott said. i Diane Elizabeth Brian said she saw the accident, and in i her opinion the car had no - chance of avoiding the cyci list. 1 FELT BUMP 1 A woman who felt a bump

FELT BUMP A woman who felt a bump on the left front of her car discovered the body of a male in the gutter, the Court was told.

Ngarene Adele Brosnahan said she was driving, east , along Charles Street in , Kaiapoi about 7.30 p.m. on ’ May 26. It was raining and ( her windscreen wipers were ( 1 going. j After she felt the bump ' . she pulled over, and found a I man, who would not speak i and did not move. S’he had > called the police from a i nearby house. : Peter Stewart Moore, a; 1 police constable, said he I'attended the accident, and! '(found out later that Jack! [Thompson, aged 47, had spent! 'most of the evening at the! iKaiapoi Working Men’s Club.;' (He had been wearing dark; clothing and there were no ((witnesses to the accident. The Coroner found that Mrj ’(Thompson died from multiple '(injuries sustained in the! accident. ,| MULTIPLE INJURIES N Dorothy Elizabeth Church! ’ died from multiple injuries '(suffered when she was hit by ja car about 9.45 p.m. on May ‘(2B. the Coroner decided. » Raeleen Francese Lucas ; told the Court that she had i been to the Esplanade Tavern . for an hour. After she left, i she drove her car along i Beresford Street, when a j I woman stepped out from between some cars parked on ’(her left. Mrs Lucas had no time to) B swerve or brake before' “ hitting the woman, and she 5 had died later that evening, r Donald Bruce Cardwell, a r ; police constable, said Mrs Church had been to housie that evening, and probably stepped out from the parked ‘ cars because she w'as expectr ing a ride home. There were! a no other witnesses to the ‘'(accident.