DEATH ON THE ROAD

Evening Post, Volume CXIX, Issue 78, 2 April 1935, Page 10

DEATH ON THE ROAD

TWO INQUESTS MOTOR-CYCLIST VICTIMS FATAL HEAD WOUNDS Two motor-cycle accidents which occurred on the main highway at Paekakariki and Paraparaumu on the afternoon of Sunday, March 10, and resulted in the death of two young men, were investigated by the Coroner (Mr. E. Gilbertson, J.P.) at the inquests today. Senior-Sergeant J. A. Dempsey conducted both inquiries. James Charles White, aged 28, a farm hand, was riding his motor-cycle up the Paekakariki Hill at about 5.30 p.m. on that day. He was proceeding in a northerly direction with a friend, Alfred Anthony Iggulden, a farm hand, who was riding another motor-cycle ahead of him. On the first bend of the road on the Wellington side of the summit the front tire of White's machine left the rim and White lost control and hit the fence. He was flung into the air and, according to the evidence of one witness, he landed on the road head first. Evidence given by Dr. Margaret Boyd-Wilson, of the Wellington Hospital, was that death was due to a fracture of the base of the skull, associated with laceration of the brain. Otto A. Monk, a farm, manager, of Pahautanui, said that he was driving his car down the Paekakariki Hill on the Wellington side when White passed him in the opposite direction. "He was travelling at a fast rate—approximately 35 to 40 miles an hour—and turning a bend," said Monk. "When the cycle was almost opposite me, I noticed the front tire leave the wheel. ... I had the idea that it would be impossible for him to get around the bend with safety owing to his high rate of speed. He hit a batten in. the fence with the cycle, and then hit- a hardwood post in the fence on his left side of the road." Ernest Edward Williams, a motor engineer, who was a passenger in Monk's car, gave similar evidence, but he estimated the speed of the cycle to be 25 to 30 miles an hour. The deceased was flung about six feet in the air when his machine hit the post, and he fell on his head on the road, said William Vincent Ridley, a storeman, who witnessed the accident from his car. Constable Smith, of Paekakariki, said that the fence post appeared to have been struck with terrific force. The front wheel of the motor-cycle was buckled and the tire and tube were damaged and completely off the rim. The verdict was that White's death was due to injuries accidentally received. There was no question, said the Coroner, of White having been racing with his companion. . IN A CLOUD OF SMOKE. Also on the afternoon of Sunday, March 10, at about 5.15 o'clock, a motorcycle, ridden by C. H. A. Hayes, of Levin, and carrying on the pillion Ronald Thomas Seddon, aged 18, a signwriter, of Levin, was proceeding in a northerly direction along the main road near Paraparaumu. Fires by the roadside were emitting dense clouds of smoke, which enveloped the highway for some distance, and while in the smoke the motor-cycle came into collision with a car being driven in the opposite direction by F. McMorran. Seddon was flung from the pillion down a bank, and he suffered a fracture of the skull, associated with lacerations of the brain, which caused his death in the Wellington Hospital early the following morning. The inquest was begun today, Mr. C. J O'Regan appearing for the relatives of the deceased and the Hon. W. Perry, M.L.C., for the driver of the car. Stanley William Richardson, a fruiterer, living at Paraparaumu, close to the scene of the accident, said that he saw the motor-cyclists enter the smoke just before the crash. They slowed up as they were entering the smoke. To the Coroner, he said that the smoke covered about three or four chains of the road. Frank McMorran, driver of the car, said that he entered the smoke at a speed of from five to ten miles per hour. The motor-cycle suddenly loomed up in front of him and struck his car a glancing blow on the righthand side. He attributed the accident to the heavy smoke which obscured visibility. He thought the motor-cycle was travelling too fast in the circumstances, but that the accident would still have occurred had the cycle been travelling more slowly, as it was on the wrong side of the road. To the Coroner he said that visibility ended about two feet in front of the radiator of his motor-car. CYCLE'S "GOOD SPEED." Questioned by Mr. O'Regan, the witness said that the bitumen surface of the road was about 21ft wide, with a strip of macadam on either side. When he stopped after the smash he could not see the motor-cycle, and he did not know where it was. The noise of the impact indicated that the cycle was travelling at a good speed. It was possible that witness's car was on the wrong side of the road, but he did not think it was. .His car was examined by the police at Paekakariki after the accident, but the brakes were not tested. He believed that Seddon's head came into contact with the side of the Cain answer to Senior-Sergeant Dempsey the witness said that he did not think to switch on his lights when he entered' the smoke, although he was aware of the regulations requiring the lights to be switched on whenever an object could not be distinguished at a distance of 150 ft. There was nothing on the road afterwards to indicate where the accident occurred, continued the witness. He noticed a portion of a step off his car on the road, but he did not know who removed it. About half an hour after the accident he took the front hub cap off his car. MOTOR-CYCLIST'S EVIDENCE. The - motor-cyclist, Clifford Henry Alexander Hayes, a farm hand, of Levin, said that he was riding at about 25 m.p.h. on his correct side of the road just before entering the smoke of the fires, which became very dense as he went into it. Approximately two seconds after he had entered it the car appeared ahead, and before he could clear it his right handlebar hit a mudguard of the car. The force of the impact threw Seddon off the pillion seat and he rolled down an eightfoot bank. The cycle and the witness also went over the bank further along. He was on the correct side of the road when he entered the smoke and ha was of.the opinion that he was still on the correct side at the time of the collision. He slackened speed slightly on entering the smoke. He had no indication that the car was approaching I him and he did not switch his lights ion. To Mr. Perry Hayes said that he had no time to apply the brakes before the collision. Replying to Mr. O'Regan, he said he thought the car was doing more than five to ten miles an hour. The inquest was adjourned until Monday morning, when the evidence of two passengers in the car will be heard.