CYCLIST'S DEATH

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 115, 12 November 1930, Page 6

CYCLIST'S DEATH

WIDOW'S 4£4000 CLAIM

EFFECTIVENESS OF ■REFLECTORS

Opinions of tho cffectircucss of the red reflectors used .on bicycles and estimates by witiicsses, based on measurements'taken by the police after the accident, of- the- speed tlicy considered the defendant's motor-cycle was travelling, formed the greater part of the evidence heard in the Supreme Court yesterday afternoon, when the action for- £4020 damages, brought by Hose. Mrty 'BJake : against Lawson John August, insurance cEtuyasscr, was continued. The claim aroso out of a collision'between the defendant's motorcycle and a bicycle ridden by the plaintiff's husband, Francis Edmund lilako, in Jackson street, Petone, last July, as a result of which Blake died. Thomas Henry Oates, motor-cycle dealer, and' John. Aycry, City Council Traffic Inspector," gave evidence of the speed they estimated August was travelling, judging from the marks on the roadway. One placed the speed at from 40 to 45 miles an hour, and the other considered that the motor-cycle must have been travelling at a high rate of speed: Their opinion was that the reflector ou Blake's bicycle was a good type. •Mr. Justice Reed asked the- witness Oates how he accounted for the fact that the cyclist was carried on for 30ft, and the witness suggested ifc was due to the speed August was travelling. In answer to Mr. W. Perry (counsel for the defendant), Albert James Walling, carrior, Of Rona Bay, who arrived at the scene' of the accident shortly after it happened, said that when he asked Albert Ilope, Blake's companion, what happened, Hope said that he did not quite know. Ho said that he and Blake had been riding along when suddenly there w.as a crash and Blake was picked up by the motor-eyclo and carried on. Giving evidence, Albert Edward Hope said that if a motorist was kecpiug a good look-out he knew of no reason why the reflector on Blake's cycle should not have "been seen. Blake was not steering an. ciratie course; he was quite steady. ' Replying to Mr. Perry, witness- said that for about three years he had been cycling home with the deceased two or three nights a week. On the evening qf the accident after he met Blake they had two long shandies. Going home, witness carried a torch, but on that evening Blake did not have his with him. They were riding abreast on the left-hand side of the bitumen. Mr. Perry: "I suggest to you that, only one of the torches was used even wheu both of you'had ■ them."—"No, certainly not." . In answer to further questions by "Mr. Perry, witness said he could not swear definitely whether August had a light on his motor-cycle or not. Up to the time the motor-cycle struck the bicycle he had no idea of its speed. After the crash the motor-cycle wobbled The' piaiutiff, Jlose May Blalic, said that her husbaud was 45 years of age, and but for the operation he had undergone about eight years ago had had nothing wrong with him. She denied the allegation that he earned a silver plate iv * his head. She and her -husband had gone in for a Government house in Mocra, on which £25 had been naid as a deposit. At present payments on the mortgages were somewhat in arrears. She had applied tor a pension, and was' receiving £6 10s a month, which amount covered the ,rates and insurance. Her eldest sou was. earning £-2 a,week, and she and her three children were endeavouring to live ou that. She had no otiiesource of income. - ' Anthony Francis Chorlton, law clorK, said he was present when .the reflector on Blake's bicycle was tested by Constable lliKgins, of Petonc, with the lights from a small car. The reflector was. clearly visible at a distance ot 200-feet away, and wheu moved about it could be seen at a distance ot -oU °Keeallcd, Constable Higgins gave evidence Of the state of the road where the accident happened. He said that to the left of the- bitumen going in the direction of Moera the road had been due up-for drainage purposes, and_ at the time of ' the accident was in a rough state, for a distance of about a mThis concluded the evidence called by Mr. W. E. Leicester, counsel for tho plaintiff, and the Court then adjourned 'until this morning. (