MOTORIST KILLED

Hawera Star, Volume LIV, 22 February 1935, Page 10

MOTORIST KILLED

LEVEL CROSSING SMASH CHILDREN. ' SERIOU SLY INJURED STRUCK BY SUBURBAN TRAIN % {By Tel^grapfc—Free* Association.} AUCKLAND, Feb. J>l. A' man was killed and his young daughter and young son severely injured, when the car in which they were travelling was struck by an in-ward-bound suburban train at the Portage Road crossing, New Lynn, to-night. The names of the victims are:—

KILLED

Leonard Stott, aged 41, grocer, of Gold Road, New Lynn.

INJURED

Lorna May Stott, aged 13, fracture of thigh and internal injuries. Condition serious. Raymond Thomas Stott, aged 13, fracture of leg and injury to back. Condition serious.

AVith the two children as passengers, Stott was driving home from his shop at Ponsonby. The car was proceeding up Portage Road when it was struck by the 6.5 p.m. train from Swanson for Auckland, the driver of which was J. Lee, and the guard D. S. White. As it was negotiating the crossing the car, an old touring model, was struck on the near right-hand back wheel. It- somersaulted, striking the railing of the cattle stop and carrying awav a portion of the wire fence, and finally came to rest right way up, but facing the opposite direction at the side of the railway line, 53 feet from the point of impact. All three occupants were thrown out of the car. Stott Avas killed almosl instantly, and his two children were taken to the Auckland Hospital. “On reaching the crossing the car appeared to stop, and then made a last-minute attempt to escape the oncoming train,” said Air J. R«- AlcLean, who witnessed the accident from outside his house, Avhich is alongside the railway line. The car was extensively damaged. Both rear wheels Avere smashed, the hood Avas ripped off, and the body i Avork suffered severely. The Portage Road crossing, at which a boy cyclist Avas killed last August, is regarded as a most dangerous one. It is at the top of a slight rise, and the greater part of the line is obscured, except at closequarters. There are “compulsory stop” notices at either side of the line, but no warning hell or “wigAvag” device. The “Railway Crossing” signal stands at the Avestern side of the crossing. Continued efforts have been made by the New Lynn Borough Council to have the dangerous nature of the crossing minimised, but so far nothing lias been done.