NO RECOLLECTION

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 115, 12 November 1930, Page 13

NO RECOLLECTION

MAN'S MEMORY A BLANK

COLLISION BETWEEN CYCLES

With the exception of one incident on the day in question, Lawson John August, insurance canvasser and defendant in the action for damages being heard against him in the Supreme Court, said he was unable to-day to recollect . anything of the accident which resulted in tho death of Francis Edmund Blake, husband of the plaintiff, Rose May Blake, who is claiming £4020 damages from August. For three weeks August said he was unconscious, and medical evidence was called to show that in such cases a lapse of memory was not uncommon. -. On the evening of 14th July, in Jackson street, Petone, there was a collision betweue. August's motor-cycle and the bicycle ridden by Blake. Within a few minutes of the accident Blake died of .his-injuries. When the hearing of the claim, which was commenced before Mr. Justice Reed and a jury yesterday, wast resumed this morning, Mr. W. Perry, appearing with Mr. B. Pope for the dcfeh.da.nti hioVed for a non-suit. His Honour reserved the point. COULD NOT RECOLLECT ACCIDENT. The defendant, Lawson John August, said he had used his motor-cycle in connection with his occupation as an insurance canvasser daily for two months prior to the date of the accident.' It was in good order and there was nothing wrong with the lamps. He had never ridden at night without a light. He remembered nothing whatever of the accident itself. As a result of the collision he suffered abrasions and cuts, two of his teeth were knocked out, his tongue was split, and .he lay unconscious in hospital for three weeks. The records of his office showed that he was collecting insurance premiums at Eastbourne on the day of the accident, but the only incident he could remember that day was that he drowned a cat for a lady at Lowry Bay on whom ho had called to collect _ insurance money. Ever since birth witness said he had had a drooping left eyelid, but that in. no way affected his vision when-riding a motor-cycle. His right eye was exceptionally strong, and his: left eye was not weak. ' He had no difficulty in reading or picking up objects; AVitness said he would be 22 years of age this month. Replying to Mr. W. E. Leicester, counsel for the plaintiff, witness said that efforts had been made by his relatives and his solicitors to try and get him to recollect what happened. He could give no explanation of the accident. . RANGE OF VISION. Mr.' Leicester: "You tell us your lights' were in good condition. You tell.us the cyclists must have been about directly in front of you. To be "perfectly fair, won't you agree- that 3^ou should have seen, the cyclists this particular night?"—"l ana not sure whether they were directly in my line of vision." Further questioned, witness said that on the night of the accident he would be following his usual practice of driving about s'feet out from the edge of the bitumen. He could not dispute that the point of impact was about 5 feet or 6 feet out from tho edge of the bitumen. Other than that they could not have been. within his range- of vision. He could offer no theory why he did not see the cyclists. ,■ AN EYESIGHT TEST. Witness said', he- was quite prepared to allow" Mr.1 Leicester to-test the sight of his left eye with an optician's chart. Counsel carried put the tests, testing August's sight for figures and colours. Dr. J. F ? Zohrab said it was quite a common occurrence in cases of concussion for persons to suffer a lapse of memory. ' It did not surprise witness that. August was unable to remember what had happened from the time of the accident back to the time ho went to bed the previous night. ■ Ernil ■A. Rodgers, mot'or-eyelo importer, with 17 years' experience, gave evidence in rebuttal of the estimates given by witnesses for the plaintiff of the-speed the defendant was considered to have been travelling. As an explanation for the motor-cycle having continued on after the impact, witness said-that possibly August was dazed before his head struck the road. Blake's companion had said that he heard a roar almost" simultaneously with.the crash. The motorcycle August was driving was not a noisy type. It was conceivable that August was travelling at a reasonable speed before the aecidentj and that suddenly the clutch was disengaged, which would account for. the noise. It could quite easily slip-in again, and with just as sudden acceleration, as a result of the accident . the motor-cycle would jump forward at a high rate of speed. JURY'S QUESTION. John E. Hoyles, an insurance adjustor, said he interviewed Hope, Blake's companion, the day after the accident at Petone. . After they had arrived at. the scene of the accident witness said he looked at Hope's bicycle and pointed but to Hope that he had no lamp in front and no reflector. It seemed to be. extraordinary in view of the accident the night before. Witness regarded the reflector on Blake's bicycle as a useless type. Replying.to a question asked by the foreman of the jury, witness said that at the time he was making inquiries he was.representing an insurance company which hold a policy covering August and his motor-cycle. This concluded the evidence, and tho luncheon adjournment was taken.