Coroner’s Court ‘Too great speed’

Press, 24 April 1980, Page 4

Coroner’s Court ‘Too great speed’

A motor-cyclist, aged 19, had clearly been travelling at too great a speed when his machine collided with a van on the road to Teddington, the District Coroner (Mr N. G. Hattaway) said in the Coroner’s Court yesterday.

The Coroner found that Peter John Egan died of multiple injuries which he sustained when he was involved in an accident on December 22, 1979. Young people should be aware that the high-powered motor-cycles available today had to be used with caution. There were corners and roads where it was ■ dangerous to travel at excessive speeds, said Mr Hattaway. Peter Egan and the leader of the motor-cycle group in which he had been riding had clearly been travelling at too great a speed. John Gerrard Moore, a photoengraver told the Court that he and some friends had been travelling to Teddington. Their speeds had been “pretty fast” round the corners from Governor’s Bay, about 100 to 120 km/h. As they passed the Allandale Hall Mr Egan and another youth had been in front of

Mr Moore said that as he approached a left-hand bend, with an up-hill grade, he saw a van coming towards him sideways across the road.

He said he was still getting his motor-cycle under control when he saw Peter Egan lying on a grass verge at the side of the road. Mr Moore said that he had not seen the actual impact but thought that the accident was caused by Mr Egan’s “excessive speed.” Although Mr Egan was a good rider he had not owned the more powerful machine for very long and had not had a lot of experience riding it at high Speed. The driver of the van, Timothy Wytze de Jong, said in evidence he saw a motor-cyclist coming round the corner at an “exceptionally fast speed.” The motor-cyclist was using the whole right-hand side of the comer and appeared to be drifting over to the other side of road. He saw and heard the motor-cyclist go past the right front comer of the van, clearing it by only “a matter of inches.” i

Mr de Jong said that he had not recovered .from the fright of the motor-cyclist when he saw a flash in front of the right hand corner of the van.

“I thought to myself ‘God, there’s another one’ and at this moment there J was a loud bang and I realised that the second motor-cyclist had collided with the right-hand corner of my truck.” The van had gone out of

control, careered through a hedge and struck the base of a concrete water tank.

The pathologist (Mr P. R. Kelleher) said that Peter Egan had died from multiple injuries. Constable M. W. E. Smith said in evidence that Mr de Jong had had “no hope of avoiding the accident." FATAL COLLISION A Templeton Hospital patient had died from multiple injuries he sustained when the bicycle he was riding collided with al tractor outside the hospital on Kirk Road on February 9, the Coroner said. He was Maurice Pollock Cameron, aged 49. Peter James Reid, a farm hand, told the court that he had been driving a heavy tractor along Kirk Road at about 18 j km/h. H? had started to overtake a push cyclist near the hospital entrance. He had moved ovet| on the roadway and 1 “sud* denly without any signal” the cyclist had turned in front of the tractor.

Constable Paul Geoffrey Kissell said that Mr Cameron had been a. patient ifl the hospital since he was five years old. He had a mental age of a 10 or 12 year old. Mr Cameron may not have been proficient with the road rules and per* haps not realised that he had to signal and check for traffic before turning right.