MOTOR COLLISION

Evening Post, Volume CXXIX, Issue 33, 8 February 1940, Page 5

MOTOR COLLISION

SEQUEL IN COURT

£531 DAMAGES CLAIMED

A collision between a motor-car and a motor-cycle which occurred in Cable Street, Wellington, about 5 p.m. on July 26, 1939, was recalled in the Supreme Court today, when, before Mr. Justice Smith and a jury of 12, Ernest John Bentley, wharf labourer, of Wellington, claimed £531 in special and general damages from Archibald Lawrence Lamb, shop assistant, of Wellington, alleging negligence. Bentley was injured and has since been unable to work.

The plaintiff, represented by Mr. G. C. Kent, alleged that when he was riding his motor-cycle ' along Cable Street, Wellington, about 5 p.m. on July 26, 1939, the defendant backed a motor-car into his cycle, causing, injuries to the plaintiff's left leg. As a result of the incident the plaintiff had been prevented from following his occupation. He alleged that Lamb had been negligent, first, in not ensuring, that the road was clear when backing his car, second, in failing to give adequate warning and by driving an erratic course.

The defendant, represented by Mr. S. G. Stephenson, claimed that the accident was due not to his own negligence, but to the negligence of the plaintiff, who, he said, had failed to keep a proper look-out, had driven at a speed which in the circumstances was excessive, and had failed to give t adequate and proper signals. Further- j more, it was claimed, the plaintiff was riding on the incorrect side of the road. (Proceeding.)