Cass Street car fatality probed
By
BARRY CLARKE
Traffic officers wUI know today if the car in which a young woman was killed on Friday evening had earlier been raced at the Cass Street “drag strip.” Ellen George, aged 17, of Spreydon, died in Christchurch Hospital after suffering serious head injuries when the car in which she was a passenger crashed in Carlyle Street about 11 p.m. The car hit a traffic island and skidded into a pole. The driver escaped with minor injuries. The fatality was the first of two deaths on Christchurch
roads since Friday. A motor-cyclist died at the scene when he lost control of his machine and crashed through a fence after turning from Moorhouse Avenue into Ferry Road at 6.10 p.m. on Saturday. He was' 1 Barry John Robinson, aged 34. Friday evening’s accident was attended by a Christchurch City councillor, Ron Wright, who had been in an unmarked police car to observe the Cass ‘ Street racers. Cr Wright said he had seen the car involved in the crash in Cass Street earlier in the even-
ing. The Ministry of Transport is investigating the accident, details of which are expected to be known today. Cr Wright said a fatality had been inevitable. “I said it would happen, and it will continue to happen,” he said last evening. The only solution was to move the racers away from the builtup area to land at Wigram the council was in the process of acquiring. The racers have been accused of damaging business premises in and around Cass Street. Traffic officers and police are regu-
larly called to investigate complaints. Cr Wright said he was appalled by the behaviour of the racers on Friday. “At one stage we were in the midst of five cars doing wheelies. The situation has got worse in the past few weeks.” He said there were two groups, one of which was there solely to race, the other to cause trouble. “They’re violent and threatening. There’s a group who want a confrontation all the time with the police and M.O.T. It’s the attitude which is of concern to me.”
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19891120.2.46
Bibliographic details
Press, 20 November 1989, Page 6
Word Count
356Cass Street car fatality probed Press, 20 November 1989, Page 6
Using This Item
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Press. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 New Zealand licence. This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
Copyright in all Footrot Flats cartoons is owned by Diogenes Designs Ltd. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise these cartoons and make them available online as part of this digitised version of the Press. You can search, browse, and print Footrot Flats cartoons for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from Diogenes Designs Ltd for any other use.
Acknowledgements
This newspaper was digitised in partnership with Christchurch City Libraries.
Log in