UNKNOWN CAR

Evening Post, Volume CXXII, Issue 67, 16 September 1936, Page 12

UNKNOWN CAR

CAUSE OF ACCIDENT

KENT TERRACE FATALITY

CORONERS COMMENT

"If the third driver heard the crash or scream he is nothing more than a hit-and-run driver—a class we , are doing our utmost to suppress," said the Coroner (Mr. E. Gilbertson) today, at the conclusion of an inquest into the death of Mrs. Elizabeth Anne Fargher, aged 67. Mr. Gilbertson returned a formal verdict that Mrs. Fargher died at Wellington Hospital on August 23 as a result of injuries sustained when she was knocked over in Kent Terrace on August 20 by a car driven by Weldon Edgar Francis Jeffries.

Evidence was given that when Jeffries was driving up Kent Terrace" on his way to Wellington Hospital, a second car stopped to give him the right of way at the Pirie Street intersection, but a third car swung out of this intersection behind the other.cai. causing him to swerve and strike the deceased and her granddaughter, who were crossing Kent. Terrace; The granddaughter had a miraculous escape from injury and was actually, lying under the front of the car when it stopped.

After the last witness had • been heard, Mx». Gilbertson said that the evidence was inconclusive as to how the accident had occurred because of the question, Where was the third car which had forced Jeffries further out?

Senior-Sergeant J. O'Neill, who appeared for the police: We have made every possible inquiry but we have been unable to locate it.

The Coroner: The evidence is clear that there was a third car.

Senior-Sergeant O'Neill: There is no doubt about it, but there appears to be a possibility that the driver of the car did not hear the crash or the scream. He did not stop, and his number was not taken. Mr. Gilbertson then referred to the third driver being in the same cate-. gory as a hit-and-n--i motorist, Senior-Sergeant O'Neill observed that the third motorist had not actually struck the deceased. Mr. Gilbertson: No, but to a large extent he was the cause of the accident; he had no business to be where he was. The Coroner then observed that Kent Terrace seemed to be rather a bad place for accidents. This was the third or fourth inquest he had had on fatalities on that street. He asked Senior-Sergeant O'Neill whether the lighting was bad. j Senior-Sergeant O'Neill replied that it was not one of the best-lighted areas, particularly on a wet night. Mr. Evan Parry, counsel for the driver of the car, said that Jeffries wished to express his sympathy to the relatives of the deceased in their bereavement. Mr. E. Hogg appeared for the relatives. ■ THE EVIDENCE. Dr. Margaret A. Birks, house surgeon at Wellington Hospital, said that the deceased was admitted to hospital on August 20 suffering from severe head injuries, and died on August 23. Ernest James Gates, caretaker, said that on the night of August 20 he was driving his car along Kent Terrace in a southerly direction, following a grey tourer at about 20 miles per hour: When the grey tourer was about halfway across the Pirie Street intersection another car made a .wide turn out'of Pirie Street, causing the grey car to swerve to its right to avoid a collision. When the grey car swerved there was a flash of white and then a scream, and the tourer came to a sudden stop. He hurried to lend assistance" and found the deceased lying, on the road abreast of the driver's seat or the tourer. It was raining at the time and visibility was poor. . : ~ Phyllis Mary Fargher, aged 12, said that about 7.25 p.m. on August 20. she was crossing Kent Terrace with.her grandmother from the Pine _ Street corner, and was nearly on the> first set of tram lines when a motor-car suddenly appeared from the direction.of Pirie Street. It was dark and^had been raining. Before they could do anything, they were knocked down. From-the time that she first saw. the car coming from Pirie Street until she and her grandmother were struck would be only one or two seconds Philip Douglas Fargher, son of. tn« deceased, said his mother's hearing was sound and she used glasses for reading. CHIEF WITNESS COLLAPSES. Weldon Edgar Francis Jeffries, farm, hand said he was driving to Wellington Hospital, along Kent Terrace close to the left-hand side of the road «nd at approximately .'l7 miles per hour. As he was about to cross the intersection of Piria Street, a car came out of that street and stopped to let .him pass. Another car, however, swung out from behind the first and he had to apply the footbrake hard ana swerve to the right to avoid a collision. The other driver made a left-hand turn but did not stop. Just as he had straightened up he noticed a woman and a little girl directly in front of his car. He jammed on the footbrake and handbrake. '; ■ At this stage the witness .fainted, toeing caught by Senior-Sergeant O'Neill and Sergeant Brown as he. was falling. One', of the counsel hurried from the court to obtain water and in the meantime the witness slowly revived. The witness, slowly continuing his evidence, said that he was unable to stop before hitting the lady and the little girl. When he had stopped, .the lady was lying just under the drivers door of the car and the girl was "lying under the car between the front wheels. Ashley Lucas Jeffries, brother ; of the previous witness, who was a passenger in the car at the,time of the accident, gave corroborative evidence. .He could not say whether the driver of the third car would have heard the crash or the scream, although he was only a few feet away. The accident was caused by the driver of the third car not giving way and swinging on the wheel so that his brother had. to swerve. The night was wet and visibility was bad.

Sergeant William John Brown gave evidence as to measurements and blood stains on the road.