MOTOR CAR FATALITY.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1635, 30 December 1912, Page 2

MOTOR CAR FATALITY.

CHILD RUN DOWN IN VIVIAN STREET. INQUEST AT HOSPITAL. Accidental death was the verdict returned at an inquest held by Mr. W. G. Riddell, S.-M., at the Wellington-Hospital yesterday morning. On Priday afternoon, about a quarter past four o'clock, a little boy, named.Phillip Geor, 3j years of age, was.knocked down by a .motor-car in Vivian Street, and as result of the injuries he received he died in tho hospital early on Saturday morning. The inquest yesterday was. in connection with his death. Senior-Sergeant Mathiesoh, in charge of tho -Wellington South' police district, re-, presented the police; Mr. J.. J. M'Grath appeared for the motor-car owners (Fitzgerald and Poarce)j.'ttucl Mr. E. J. Pitzgibbon anpeared for the drive} 1 of ■ the motor-car" (Harold Wm. Hardie).-. The fattier of the child was also present. . Dr. H. Hardwicke Smith,. medical superintendent of the Wellington Hospital, described tho appearance of the deceasedwhen he was admitted to Hie; hospital, in an unconscious condition at '5.15 p.m.. on Priday, and stated that he was obviously suffering from compression of the brain. He gradually-sank, and died at 0.45-a.m. on Saturday. Tho cause of death was fracture of the skull, accompanied by haemorrhage 'and compression of the brain. . :■■'■. Harold William Hardie, the driver, of the motor-car, said that he resided at 72 Tasman Street, and was employed by Messrs. Fitzgerald and Pearce. About i.W p.m. on Friday last k,a was driving along Vivian Street from Cuba Street.. At the Taranaki Street crossing he ; over-, took a tram car, and drew alongside it near the Salvation: Army Citadel. He went with .the car to within 30 or , 40 yards of the Tory Street loop when, hearr mg the motorman sound the gong, he applied-one of -the brakes in anticipation of. danger. The - speed of the motor-car was about 10 miles an hour. Witness suddenly saw the child clear the tram and come in the direction of the motor? car. To avoid accident, he '(witness) applied the rest of his brakes, .and swerved to the left, running bis car into .the.gutter, but the right side of the front mudguard struck the child a slanting .blow. Witness pulled up, and carried the child into tho chemist's shop near by. Dr. Mackin came alonj in answer,to.a call, and ordered .the child's removal to tho hospital. Mr. M'Grath:.Were you on your correct side? The witness replied in tho affirmative, and in answer to further questions stated that there was plenty of room-between the tram' and the footpath, for two cars. Ho had been driving for about six months. His speed on Priday was not an unusual one. Fifteen miles an hour was' the limit. > .... Mr. M'Grath: Could you have possibly avoided the accident?

Witness: No. '■'„,, ,~, To Mr. Fitzgibbon: His view of the child was obscured by tho tram-oar., \ To tho Coroner: He was slowing down, at the time of the accident and the tramcar was drawing ahead. ', To the father of deceased: When he paw deceased, the latter was onl~ a-yard in front and lie could not stop the. car before striking him. Percy Fredk. Ellison, a telegraph messenger, who was on the tram-car mentioned, gave evidence as to', witnessing the accident. William Bennett, motorman in the employ of tho'City Corporation, who was driving car No! 40 along Vivian Street at the time of the accident, declared that his car was travelling twelve miles oh hour and the motor-car seemed to be going at the same pace. The child was about a chain off when he started to cross the road and about fifteen yards off when lie crossed the tram-line.

To Mr. M'Grath: Deceased and _ other cliildren were in the habit of playing in the street, and it was witness's experience that one had to be very careful in that part of the street. The child might have been only the length of the car.off when lie crossed the line, but he was not close enough to make it necessary to stop tho tram.

if. Geor, draper, of Vivian Street, gave evidence as to seeing his son (deceased) in the shop a few minutes before tho accident. Witness had always found that the child'iras intelligent enough to keep out of tho road of vehicles, "I'd could not account for the accident. The child had gone into the street with an elder brother (six years). _ '

The coroner-remarked that the evidence disclosed that the child ' met his death as the result of an unfortunate accident. The child evidently considered he could liavo got across in front of the tram, but did not reckon on the motor-car. It seemed as if the driver of the motor-car had only complied with the by-laws in not passing the tram, arid when he saw the danger ho did all he could to avoid tho accident. A verdict of accidental death was returned, the coroner adding that no blame was attachable to anyone;