AN OPEN VERDICT
THE FATALITY IN ADELAIDE ROAD.
The hearing of: evidence in the inquest into the circumstances that led up tq the death of Denis Diver in the Wellington Hospital on the afternoon of 9th November was continued 1 by Mr.' "W. G. Riddell, S.M., yesterday afternoon, after The Post went to press. John Thomas Lawson, caretaker of theNewtowii School, 1 stated that the ambulance was approaching well on its left side of th& road, but swerved over, .arid struck the deceased on his right side, carrying him two or three ■ feet. The vehicle' was travelling fast, but private cars often travelled faster on the road.
Constable H. Shields gave details of measurements taken after the accident. The ambulance travelled 55ft after striking the deceased. In reply to witness, Sinclair had admitted that he was driving fast, but -said that they had to do so owing to the rush of work. 1 Witness estimated the' speed of the ■ ambulance at from 35 to 40 miles per hour. As far as he could' see the vehicle never went nearer, the wrong side of the road than the centre of the. street. .'.''■'
William i Whartori, employed at the Hospital Dispensary, who accompanied Sinclair on the ambulance doing voluntary work after his regular hours, said 1 that Sinclair kept the car on the outgoing rails to Newtown. Just before the accident ■ the speedometer registered twenty.miles per hour, but was-unsteady. When the standing tram was passed, witness saw deceased come out of Drnm-mond-street at a "slow trot." He called to s Sinclair, who swerved to the right, behind the tram, to avoid him, but a projection just behind the driver's seaton the left-hand side of the car caught/ the man, who dropped at once to' the ground. The accident, under the circumstances was inevitable.'-; ;•*■,.■; t
To Mr. Myers: The 1 bell was rung all the time, but Diver did:not look back. The Coroner returned an open .verdict, , that the deceased dsed. at Wellington on the 9th November from injuries received by being knocked down by an ambulance driven b^. Arthur Sinclair, in the Employ of, the .Hospital" Board.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19181210.2.38
Bibliographic details
Evening Post, Volume XCVI, Issue 140, 10 December 1918, Page 4
Word Count
355AN OPEN VERDICT Evening Post, Volume XCVI, Issue 140, 10 December 1918, Page 4
Using This Item
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Evening Post. 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.