EVIDENCE OF DRIVER

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 252, 21 July 1938, Page 8

EVIDENCE OF DRIVER

Reviewed In Detail By Board FRANKNESS COMMENDED “'.lt is quite impossible for any man to recollect every action he performs in connection with his daily work, said the Board of Inquiry set up to investigate the Ratana railway disaster on March 26, when reviewing the evidence of the driver of the train, B. C. Percival, in its report to the Minister of Railways, Hon. D. G. Sullivan. “The driver states that he carried on without shutting off steam until he reached Ratana; but whether he carried on with', a full throttle or reduced on topping the hill, and if so to what extent, cannot be ascertained. At all events, his own view is that he gradually increased speed to 40 miles per hour, which, in the locality, is perfectly safe, even if somewhat in excess of the maximum speed-limit prescribed. “In view of the fact that there was a certain amount of haze of a low-lying nature, so that distant and elevated objects were visible and the track under the locomotive and small nearby objects were less clearly visible, the difficulty of judging speed, at no time an easy process, was accentuated. There were also banks of low-lying fog at intervals along the Ratana flat. Ability to Judge Speed.

“Numerous witnesses, including the drivers who gave evidence, expressed their ability to judge speed within a margin of plus or minus two miles; but, when making these statements, they were considering occasions on which, they were concentrating on the special question of judging speed. In ordinary running undoubtedly a driver performs many of his actions subconsciously, and ‘feels’ that his speed Is safe. In the present case the driver was doubtless carrying on at a speed which he felt to be perfectly safe, and did not consciously and by any mental process estimate his speed at any definite number of miles an hour. At a period when, owing either to darkness, fog, or other causes, objects close to the line—-for instance, fences—are not visible, and when the engine is running freely, as it. would be down the gentle grade of Ratana Flat, it is very easy to be deceived. “Members of the board themselves experienced on the Ratana Flat the conditions of a train running at practically the same schedule as ‘W4,’ with a driver who had just been reminded of the different restrictions along the section north, of Turakina. This train crossed the Ratana Flat at over 50 miles an hour, and the pace caused no sensation of excessive speed or anxiety, and it presented to the driver no difficulty whatever in reducing to the proper speed at the end of the straight. The report added that the driver’s first estimate was that he made a 41b. or 51b. application of the brakes over a period of two or three seconds, which was in accordance with the evidence of other witnesses, and which the board considered to be a perfectly normal operation for a man testing the “feel” of the train at a time when he knew that within a short distance it would be necessary to make a substantial reduction in speed. The driver was then of the opinion that he was about 30 chains from the curve. “Position Misjudged.”

“The driver’s evidence,” said the board, “is that the crash . occurred practically simultaneously with the release of the brakes, which indicates that he was about 200 feet from the point of derailment when be applied the brakes, and that, accordingly, he had misjudged his position by about 27 chains. Expressed in another way, the driver had underestimated his speed to such an extent as to cause him to think that he had travelled a distance of 60 chains when he had in fact travelled a distance of 87 chains. On this basis his 40 miles an hour becomes 58 miles an hour.

“As previously stated, with a ground haze and banks of low-lying fog hiding the fences and small objects which would be within the beam of the headlight, it would be a very easy matter to lose track of one’s actual position. The driver’s principal sensation at the time of the accident was that of the engine sliding from under him, which Is what would almost certaiidy be the case when, under the influence of centrifugal force, it overturned. “This is an appropriate place to say that, throughout his entire evidence, the driver displayed a frankness and sincerity which is to be commended. His general • evidence is more consistent with the ascertained facts and with oilier evidence on which reliance can be placed than that of any other single witness who deposed to the matters covered by him. It would appear that the only point in which the driver was at fault previous to his losing track of his actual location was' the estimation of his speed at Ratana at 40 miles an hour. His candour is manifested by his free admission (and this applies also to the guard) as to the speed in this locality, for both men knew, and had ample opportunity to have the matter brought before them, that the train should not then have been travelling at more than 35 miles an hour.”