VERDICT IN GRANITY BUS SMASH INQUEST

Grey River Argus, 18 February 1949, Page 8

VERDICT IN GRANITY BUS SMASH INQUEST

Coroner’s Recommendation

Lengthy evidence was -called from some victims of the twenty-eight who were in rhe bus accident on the Karamea Road on November 27. motor mechanics, the driver of the vehicle, and others when the inquest on two persons who died as a result of injuries received on that day, Dorothy Petrie, a married woman, and Alfred Nuttall, was concluded at Westport yesterday before Mr c. H. Thomas. J.P., acting as Coroner. Mr _M. B. Scully appeared for the relatives of the deceased arid Mr H. A. E. Maitland, Crown Solicitor, for the Railways Department wnose Road Service’s bus was involved in the accident.

The verdict in both cases was that deceased died from injuries caused by an accident to a bus driven by John Samuel Kelly. The Coroner said that he had taken notice of the evidence given by the occupants of the bus. which indicated that the accident hart certainly not been caused by speeding. RtMOVAL OF SPRINGS

He considered it his duty, however, to add something to the verdict, which might be of some service to the travelling public, in that he would recommend that public vehicles carrying passengers, especially in the Buller district, where the roads are difficult, should have the springs removed at definite intervals after they have done a certain mileage, for the’springs, “U” bolts, and other parts to be examined. Where such parts were liable to the effects of water cracks or crystallisation, it was essential that they should be inspected regularly. Mr Thomas said that all three mechanics, when giving evidence, had been definite that such defect could not be found by ordinary examination.

DRIVER'S EVIDENCE Kellv, the driver of the bus, a single man, aged 22 years, of Granity, said in evidence, that he had been employed in that capacity by the Railways Department since June, 194 1, and since then had been over all routes in the district. On the day of the accident, he had 28 people, including himself, travelling to Karaniea. The weather was good, and visibility was clear. The bus did not give any trouble on the journey. Witness estimated the speed, after running down the straight from Taffytown Hill at between 25 to 30 miles an hour, that being on a slight decline. Half way along the straight he felt a bit of a bump in the steering, and the bus veered to the left. He went to give the bus everything to the right, and it would not answer. “As I pulled to the right, I applied the brakes, but the steering failed to respond, and the bus went off the road, and almost immediatelv went over a severe bump,” he said. “I think that this may have knocked my foot from the brake, as the vehicle did not show anv sign of pulling up,” continued Kelly. He added that the bump occurred after he had passed a pot hole. He called out to the passengers, and the next thing hit the bank. . . „ Medical evidence was given by Dr D. R. Ryder /Medical Superintendent of th p Buller Hospital) as to the cause of the deaths, this being injuries sustained in the accident.