CARS AFIRE

Evening Post, Volume CXXII, Issue 120, 17 November 1936, Page 12

CARS AFIRE

HUTT ROAD MISHAP

NEGLIGENCE CHARGE

A collision which terminated in two motor-cars on the Hutt Road being consumed by fire on the night of September 12 resulted in the appearance before Mr. J. H. Luxford, S.M., in the Magistrate's Court today, of John Herbert Reginald McPhee on a charge of negligent driving.

Mr. A. J. Mazengarb appeared for the defendant, and Sub-Inspector C. E. Roach conducted the prosecution.

Jim Perrctt, a horse driver, said that when he was driving his wife's car along the Hutt Koad, the engine slopped, and after pushing the car for some distance ho left it on the side of the road about half a mile north of Ngahauranga. Something jammed, and he could not get the car any further off the road. It was about a foot off the bitumen and entirely on the macadam. He went on to get assistance, leaving a friend in the car. When he returned, the car was in flames.

Cross-examined by Mr. Mazengarb, the witness said his car was a sedan of 1924 model. A broken magneto chain was the reason of the stoppage. When he returned, his car was on the bitumen. The car could only have been moved by the car which hit it.

George Halliday, another motorist, who had rendered Perrett assistance, also gave evidence. He could not say whether or not the car had been shifted when he returned with Perrett. Cross-examined, he said that at first about half of the.rear portion of the car was on the bitumen.

Robert Wylie, a passenger in Perrett's car, said that the stoppage occurred about 6.30 p.m. The car was pushed off the bitumen. He. waited with the car when Perrett went for a rope. He saw the defendant's car come along at high speed and strike the rear of the stationary car. ■ About eight or ten cars passed without difficulty while the stranded car was there. McPhee first said he did not see the car, then claimed the car had no lights, and then said he thought it was moving. Witness placed (he defendant's speed at forty miles an hour. j Constables Burke and Maskell and | Traffic Inspector ,F. G. Tickner also gave evidence.

"I think it is clear that McPhee's car never left the bitumen," said Mr. Mazengarb. He went on to point out that McPhee was driving on the white line, which was placed there for the purpose o£ guiding motorists in the face of glaring lights at night. The front spring of McPhee's car punctured Perrett's petrol tank.

The Magistrate: The grounds for the charge are that the defendant did not keep a proper look-out.

In evidence, the defendant said that he was driving close to the white line. He saw no rear, light, and mentioned the fact. There was considerable dazzle from approaching lights.

Herbert Hobbs, a passenger in McPhee's car, said that he was slightly hurt in the collision. He and Fred Knox, the other passenger, fully corroborated the defendant's evidence.

"The facts speak for themselves," said the Magistrate. "It would have been impossible for him to have missed seeing the car if he had kept a proper look-out.

In view of the heavy loss suffered by the defendant, he was convicted and ordered to pay court costs only.