MOTOR CAR ACCIDENT.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 498, 4 May 1909, Page 5

MOTOR CAR ACCIDENT.

r* — ■ I • CLAIMj' AGAINST CHRISTCHURCH, ''' t lJ TRAMWAY BOARD. (BT TELKOEAPH—fIrECIAL COBHESPONDENT.J- ---."". • Chrlstchureh, May 3. ' ,Dunng tho Canterbury Automobile Asso.ciajjion's Reliability Trials, held at the latter end of December last year, Dr. Neeloy, % who was driving a 2-1 h,.?. car, ran into some , excavations that had been mado on tho Riccarten Road by tho -.tramway workmen for , tho purposo of repairing the lino and' soriously damaged tho car. .Thia morning at tho Magistrate's Court David Arthur Ebor- ' let, of Wellingten, an importer, the owner ■ °f. th ? oar, claimed £112 Wβ, 10d. from the Chnstchurch Tramway Board, the cost of repairing tho car, ~ and \ damages for tho . board e negligence in not proporly protecting the lino or warning persons that there , - wore several holos in tuo roadway. , Dr. Neelcy said that on December 29 ho was coming down tho Riccarton Road. Aa it was markot day ho met a good many flocks sheep. Shortly , after ho passed one, flock Bβ steered the car on the tram track in " ordor to avoid the other traffic- Hβ was tlriv- ' ing carefully at not moro than fifteen miles >wr hour. Ho noticed some men working on the tramline, and auddonly his car got into a nolo that had boon mad<by the men for ren ring the rails. Witness noticed the holes ore he actually got to them, but'on account of tho traffic and tho short distance iiis car, was from , tho hole 3, he could not avoid his back wheels going into thorn. Both ( tyres burst, and tho back left wheel' uas badly damaged. ■ Three spokes wore broken, and the ritn woe bent. Witness and others effected repairs sufficient to allow tho car to come into town The car was a now ono and the price was £495, After tho _ accident it would, depreciate ,£IOO in valuo and despite the fact that it had been carefully overhauled, motorists would be disinclined to purchase it because it might de- . yelop Bomo latent weakness as the result of - tho accident, lor instance, tho back axle was inclined to sag. He was not racing at the timo, and was only qualifjing for a nonOthor witnesses corroborated Dr. Neolov's evidence.' ■ ' '_ S^i. 1 !? 6 defontl '>nt a tramway workman iaid that on December 29 he S nil ,T> la i ,S °r?, tlle Klcca rtoti Road, noar Clyde Road. > There were four holes open would be four feet by two fcot wido and six I inches m depth. At tho time of the incident' a, flag (consisting of a piece of paper stuck ! i t «« - - I "' 3 tho "orkmon were cnnoticed Dr. Neoley's car approaching. About A httlo later ho. was pulled out of tho way by a workman just as the car rushed bv The car then swerved off the line, returned &■ 1 r M k k ßnd StrUck thc holo He thought the car was travelling at from * 2o to 30 miles an hour. Other workmen gave similar evidence. The Magistrate reduced tho amount claimed for deprecation to £25, and gave x Msfs" 1 f ° r £62 I '^ , 10(1 - «"d