KILLED BY AN AMBULANCE

Evening Post, Volume XCVI, Issue 138, 7 December 1918, Page 7

KILLED BY AN AMBULANCE

INQUEST OPENED.

An inquiry was opened by Mr. W. 6. Riddell, S.M., this morning into the death, of Dinnie Diver, at the Wellington Hospital at about 4.30 p.m. on 9th November after having been struck by a hospital ambulance, driven by 'Arthur Sinclair, shortly after 3 o'clock, while he (Diver) was crossing over Adelaideroad from the north corner of Drum-mond-street towards the Tramway Hotel. Senior Sergeant Creane conducted the inquiry, Mr. M. Myers appeared for Sinclair, Mr P. J. O'Regaji for the relatives of the deceased, Mr. J. Tripe for the City Corporation, and Mr. P. W. Ward for the Hospital and Charitable Aid Board. ■ ,

Motorman E. D. Croll, in the course of his evidence, stated that on the afternoon of the StK UTovfeinber he was motorman on car 52 from Island Bay to the city. The car was stopped at Drummond-street, the rear end of the car partly blocking Drummond-street, and witness saw th& ambulance coming towards him on the line on which the tram stood. He thought it would strike the tramcar, but as it neared the tram, travelling at a high rate of speed, it i swerved off on to the outer rails. .•■•He estimated the speed at 55 miles per hour. Immediately afterwards witness heard the alarm bell, and then alighted from the tram, and for the first time saw deceased lying on the ground between the two sets of rails. There was no "traffic to prevent the ambulance proceed- . ing straight along to the lefj>, so far as witness could see. To Mr. Myers : It was not an easy matter to judge the speed of an approaching vehicle. Leslie Errington, conductor of the car driven by the previous witness, gave evidence along similar lines. To Mr. O'Began: The collision occurred about ten yards to the rear of the tramcar. r Motorman Sidney L. Leonard, "who was riding to town on the tram, stated that the ambulance swerved in behind the tram and there struck the deceased. To Mr. Myers: There were no obstructions on tile road, but witness did not see the movements of the deceased. It was quite possible that he himself might have caused the obstruction which would cause the ambulance to swerve. Dr.' W. D. Fitzgerald, senior house surgeon at the Wellington Hospital, sc that death was due to a .fracture of the base of the skull. Mir.- Myers : Had the deceased taken any alcohol ? The man's breath was very bad, and it was impossible to tell. Witness considered it very unlikely that the ambulance, weighing about two tons, and carrying three passengers, could attain a speed of anything like 35 miles an hour oiv thai rise. Sinclair, to his personal knowledge, was a thoroughly expert and reliable driver. He could not say just what hours Sinclair had worked during the preceding 24 hours, but at that time the Hospital drivers were doing the whole of the city's ambulance work. The influenza epidemic was in full swing. Nest day the driver himself wag down. At this stag* the iaqoiyy vtt; *&■-. -JUMioaMt. till lUEonAw*- jUtocwank.