CYCLIST'S DEATH

Evening Post, Volume CXXII, Issue 22, 25 July 1936, Page 15

CYCLIST'S DEATH

HIT BY MOTOR-CAR

I!6^ER iHlitT INdUEST !

A,n Inquest was held at Lower Hutt yesterday afternoon, before the Coroner :(Mr, E. Gilbertsori, jip.), intp the circumstances oi'the death of

Willianj, Joh nf cowley,, who was knocked ;off;. his bicycle on the evening of July/riqVvby a motor-car driven by Chandos .Rough.,.;.- .~;' '~

, Mr.; lEvan Parry appeared for Mr. Rough-'and Mr. I. D.- Jack for the Publi,d;Trustee, the .administrator of the, estate "of 'the deceased. Sergeant J> W. McHolriv conducted the inqviest. •

.After giving evidence ;,of identification, Harold Charles Gilbert, a barman; at Taita/Hotel, stated that;Hvhen thei^deeeased -left-the—hotel- -on > -his bicycle he was absolutely sober. His eyesight and hearing were good. His bicycle was .equipped with lights .run fros;a^bit}ery. yyisihmty ; was .good. ! ■ . Srv-O^ash, stated that wiieh he arrived .at ,-thte"-store 'into .which- Cpvyleyv hadi been carried;lie found: that death had occurred only a; few miriutes before.- The deceased had severe ~heao[ jn juries. In, his-.opinion death was/i diie to, a ;f ractur^ skull and cerebtaljliernorrhage.' , Cnan'dos; Rough, -an' insurance superb inten'a,ent,:'sa|d';tHat. at the time of Jthe' accident he'was-albiie in'his car;.and driying; towards Wellington. His speed was•froni;2s- to '27 miles, an, hour, but| just.iprior, ;to;:the. accident he slowed down'ito irorh 26t6.22Vaniles per hour, because,'he was -approachnig an/ inter-1' section and-because a- car was ap-i prpachin'g him: with-glarihg- headlights. He'dipped: his own lights,'but-the other carfdicT.not.. He did'not see*.the cyclist until'Ke hit him. He applied Kis brakes and swerved to the right and then to the left. He,travelled on 15 or 16 feet until he v^as off the, bitumen and then pulled*vip. The deceased%as iying un-1 conscious on the road and was lifted into' a •nearby store.; The-motorist with the brilliant headlights also stopped and saidfhe'Jiad seen the accident. Witnc »:: was travelling iffom Mastertbn. in reply toi Mr; Parry, witness said that he. thdught he would have seen the cyclist if he was on the bitumen but for>the iglaring Jights of the other, car. He thought it was possible the cyclist had been riding on the footpath and had swerved in front of the car. •■ HIT ON THE REAR. .. Sergeant McHolm said' that the cyclist had been hit fair atad square on the rear and not on the side. He knew that some cyclists did ride on footpaths. . ; . ':'■'. Harold Edward.Pither, a;'.bookseller and stationer, said that'on the evening of the accident he was proceeding towards Masterton. His wife, who was sitting beside him,- had been dimming his lights, but he, did not know if she dimmed them when they were parsing through Taita and saw the.°;car driven by the previous witness approaching. He did not notice if the driver of the other car.dipped his lights: He did not see the cyclist approaching but heard a crash. His method ,bf dipQJng was to quench the right light. Edith Florence Pither, wife of the ■ previous witness,' said she'had been , dimming her husband's Rights, but could not remember if she dimmed them on this occasion orr .not. ■■; She mentioned that her daughter had seen the light of a cycle in front of the car, " .. „ ■ r^_ .•'•■'.'... .' ■ Mary daughter of':the-:'pr&i' vious witness/on being called, -stated that she sawsjhe lightsof an approaching can-iand't^e flights; of--V pushbicycler There was a T"bang and a lot of dust.-The lights of the oncoming car were hot dazzling; ■ :. " Constable-Gordon said he; examined th«!.;bicycle,;aridVcould-not say.whether ; the;; battery running 'the .lights' was functioning or not. ;,.-:'Mr, Parry said that no, definite eviidence had been producedas to where the cyclist vras before the accident. .The Coroner said he regarded \vhat had occurred as a pure accident/There was no evidence-that Pither's lights -were dimmed, but they probably were jtiot; and the glare probably impeded •Rough's vision. He did not know whether, the ; cyclist came on to the road from the footpath' or not/but this did not concern them ': very much. Rough was not to blame. • ,; The finding was that the deceased died at Taita from severe injuries sustained through- being knocked off his bicycle on- the Main Hutt Road by a motor-car driven by Chahdos Rough.