CORONER INQUIRES INTO FATAL SANDON MOTOR ACCIDENT

Manawatu Times, Volume LIV, Issue 6815, 19 January 1929, Page 11

CORONER INQUIRES INTO FATAL SANDON MOTOR ACCIDENT

Death of Foxton Lad

VERDICT OF ACCIDENTAL '"••••• - DEATH

: At the inquest, into the circumstances surrounding the death of Oliver. Leslie -Anderson, of Foxton, aged 18, which occurred, as a result of the curm whicn he was a passenger;, overturning, the Coroner( Mr. A." J. Graham) returned a verdict of accidental death. Dr Frank Ward, Superintendent of the Palmerston North Hospital stated tlmt when deceased was admitted to hospital he was conscious but complained of pain in the back of the neck, inability to move both legs and partial inability to move both arms. It appeared that ho had injured the spinai cord. Appropriate treatment, was given but Anderson gradually became semiconscious and required sedatives keep him quiet. Boon after, ho became worse and died. The cause of death was spreading inflammation of tho spinal cord caused by a fracture. Horace - J,ohn Enid, picture operator, of Foxton gave evidence of identification. •

James Bernard Coley, labourer, of Foxton, deposed that deceased was a passenger .in the; • car*, witness drove from Marton -to Foxton on the afternoon of January 1. At a narrow part of tho Toad about two miles on- the Foxton side - of Sandon,.-the sounding of a car horn at his side was the first intimation he had of a motorist behind wishing to pass. Witness was pulling off to the side as the second car went by. The driver of that - motor, however, turned in too quickly in front of witness, the car catching witness’s motor a glancing blow in front that broke the steering rod. Tho result was that witness’s car overturned into < tho swamps alongside the-Toad. Colby said he was quite sure' that the broken steering rod was. the;result of tho blow: and not the result of his . having suddenly to pull the car, against iftO impetus p ftho blow, , Nor had the sudden application of the brakes been responsible. The ro,ad he, thought was too narrow at Tjiat sppt fpr a car to overtako another,' So’only. heard o.np. blast of the horn of. the. rear par. Sis speed at the time from ;)l7 to 20 m.p.h. The steering ; rod.. showed hP sign of- a flaw. Geoffrey Mohekey Williams. described the blow given Coloy’s front, wdipol by the passing car as a,hard one. . As soon as the steering. rod brokc .the .car headed for- the swampland overturned. Deceased was the last to be got out. Witness considered Coley a competent driver.

, Alfred Edward Julian, taxiidriver, of Levin, said, he was the driver, of the car-which overtook Coley’s. -Witness had been driving for 15 years and averaged 400 miles per week. Wkci) about a chain behind Cplgy he blew his horn but Coley kept straight on. As witness passed he folk no bump- and didn’t krioW'that 4 the^-fWP motors had hit. A passenger remarked, however, that Coley’s car had touched the taxi and immediately afterwards called, ouj; that it had gone over'the bank. Witness stopped and went, hack to render assistance. ' Anderson was’the only onp hurt. Witness said he 1 Would expect to feel a bump that would be sufficiency hard to capsize another mbtdf., Witness’s speed at the time was 25 nLp.h, To the Coroner witness ■ submitted the theory that the steering rod of Coley's car had broken as ■ft result of a skid before the two-cars touched. After tho accident he traced'the wobbly wheelmarks. Further, witness safd -ho was of opinion that there had' been ft flaw' in the rod and that it could bo seen easily. Nobody could,find a markon witness 's : car Where it had been struck. ■

Alfred James Marks, a passenger in Julian’s car, considered that'there was ample room for two cars, to pass at t3xo spot. It seemed to witness, however, that . Coley did not want Julian to pass as ho didn.’t pull off when the horn was sounded.. Witness saw the , .broken: Steering, .rod and. considered- it had a flaw in it. ,He had travelled - with Julian on several Ipng journeys and ppnsidcfed him,.a capably driver. • . Mm. Waitere, of Levin, lorry driver, tendered the opinion that two lorries could have passed at the spot, where Julian’s car passed Coley’s. Witness saw the broken steering rod and considered it ,had brohen-as a res tilt- of pressure on a flaw. He was a passenger in Julian’s taxi but did not feol a bump. . Herman Alfred Pierce, - farmer, of Sanson and. George Fred Schultz, sharemilker of Makowhai, also gave evi<tsnqo Neither heard the noise of a collision.

In -returning a verdict according, to medical evidence, the Coroper' remarked that Ooley bad admitted he was travelling more to the right of-the road than he should have been consequently Julian was obliged to pull over partly on to the grass. It doesn’t appear that an impact (if any) was sufficient to cause the car to. overturn. Apparnetly the steering gear of Coley’s car broke, causing him to lose control; It was clear from the evidence that Julian sounded his horn. It was possible'that loose metal -caused' the steering rod to break and if the weight' of-evidence was to be believed-, the rod Was faulty.