FATAL INJURIES

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20034, 5 September 1939, Page 15

FATAL INJURIES

FALL! FROM TRUCK DOOR LATCH DANGEROUS DEATH OF A CONTRACTOR (Special to the Herald.) RUATORIA, this day. Returning a verdict to the effect that Herbert Thomas Reynolds, aged 47 years, married, a contractor, of Gisborne, died on September 1 from injuries caused by a fall from a moving motor-lorry, a coroner’s jury added a rider recommending that the Transport Department examine the question of safety* of door-latches on such vehicles, and particularly on trucks of the type of that from which the deceased fell. The evidence .showed ihat the doorlatch on the truck was so-, placed that an involuntary movement'on the part of a passenger * in the car would tend to release it, while the width of the door and the absence of any support for the left shoulder of tlie passenger rendered an accident still more possible. Evidence as to the injuries of the deceased was given by Dr. E. R. Grant, Te Puia, at the inquest held at the week-end in Ruatoria, the witness stating that a depressed compound fracture of the skull was alone sufficient to cause death, while there were other extensive injuries. The more serious injuries were consistent with the deceased having fallen from a motor-lorry, and striking his head On the road, and death would be instantaneous. Evidence of Driver John Andrews, a bridge foreman in the employ of ihe deceased, informed the court of the general circumstances of the accident. He stated that he was driving from Ruatoria to Tikitiki, on the night of September 1, and had with him as , a passenger his employer. The latter was sober and awake at the time of the accident, which occurred as the truck took a right-hand bend in the rbad about six miles from Ruatoria. Witness said that he saw the deceased fly through the door, and grabbed at his coat, but was unable to hold him. He added in reply to a question that the door on the truck had never previously flown open when lie had been driving it. Evidence as to the sobriety of the' deceased and the driver of the truck j was given by Humphrey Golden O’Sullivan, labourer, of Ruatoria, and Philip McHugh, a roadman, deposed to the position in which he found deceased, when called on . for assistance by Andrews, after the accident. Boyd Cecil Akroyd, labourer, stated that lie had travelled in the truck on an occasion when the- door flew open. He considered the latch was dangerous, owing to its construction and its position on the door. Constable J. W. Birch also gave evidence, both as to the condition of the deceased after the accident, and as to the possibility of the doorlatch on the lorry having been released involuntarily. He also considered ihe latch dangerous, and the construction of the door liable to aggravate the effects of the door flying open.