WOMAN'S DEATH

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 119, 15 November 1929, Page 13

WOMAN'S DEATH

CLAIM AGAINST MOTORIST

UPPER HUTT FATALITY

The death of Mrs. Florence Alton as a result of an accident on the main road near tipper Hutt at 6 p.m. on 20th August last was tho subject of a case which came before the Chief Justice (the Hon. M. Myers) and a jury in the Supreme Court to-day. John Alton, an apiarist, of Upper Hutt, and husband of the deceased, claimed £23 12s 6d special and £2300 general damages from Frederick Charles Facer, branch manager, of Wellington. The plaintiff claimed that while Mrs. Alton wag walking north from Upper Hutt with her sister she was struck by the defendant's motor-car, which was travelling in the opposite direction/ It was alleged that tho defendant was negligent in (a) travelling on the ■wrong side of the road, (b) crossing to the wrong side of the road to overtake another ear without sufficient •warning of his intention to do so, (c) crossing over without first ascertaining that the road was clear, (d) travelling at a speed which, in the circumstances,, ■was excessive, (c) failing to keep a proper or any look-out, and v (f ( failing to swerve to avoid the deceased.

The defence was a denial of negligence, and it was contended that the accident was due to the fact that Mrs. 'Alton was walking on the black bitumen track, instead of on the macadam strip on the. side, and was wearing a Mack dress, which impaired visibility. It was also claimed that the fatal injuries were caused by Mrs. Alton clinging to the bicycle she was wheeling, the ■wheel of which was caught by the mo-tor-car.

Mr.-E. Parry, with "him Mr. J. D. Willis, represented the plaintiff, and Mr. C. A. L. Treadwell, with him Mr. E. J. V. James, acted for the defendant).

The injuries received by the deceased were, described by Dr. M. B. M. Tweed, of Heretaunga.. Mrs. Heather Swift, sister of the deceased, said that when the accident occurred she and Mrs. Alton were ■walking on the extreme left of the toaa. ' Just prior to the smash witness saw a car approaching. As it went past there was a flash of lights from behind it. Mrs. Alton pushed witness back, and she remembered nothing more until she found herself alone by the . roadside. She then looked foxMrs. Alton, and found her lying by the side of the road in direction of Upper Hutt.

In. reply to Mr. Treadwell, witness said that the bicycle which Mrs. Alton was'wheeling was unlighted. She admitted having previously said that she and the deceased had come to a standstill when the accident took place. A horn was sounded, but she was unable to say from how far away it came. Senior-Sergeant E. W. Dinnie, officer in charge of the Criminal Eegistration Branch of the Police Department, Wellington, produced photographs of the scene of the accident and also of the defendant's car, the rear right window of which was broken.

To Mr. Treadwell, witness said that the macadam at the point where he was told the accident occurred- was rough for walking, and sloped away, making it difficult for two people to walk abreast on it. ■ ,

Witness told Mr. Parry that the distance from the pool of blood to the spot where he understood the defendant's car pulled up was 138 ft.

(Proceeding.)