THROWN FROM CAR

Northern Advocate, 8 January 1936, Page 8

THROWN FROM CAR

DEATH NARROWLY ESCAPED [Spebial to “Northern Advocate.”] AUCKLAND, This Day. About 6 o’clock last evening a car travelling from Papakura to Moumoukai, beyond Hunua, left the road on the Moumoukai Hill and crashed to the bottom of the gorge, about 120 feet below. The three occupants were thrown out, one after another, as the car turned over several times, but the only one to suffer injuries necessitating admission to the hospital was the driver, Mr Kenneth John McCardle, aged 49, a farmer. The other two passengers, Mrs E. McCardle and Miss Piggott, escaped with abrasions.

The car was a closed model, and, as it was nearing the summit of the hill, another car was encountered, travelling in the opposite direction. Mr McCardle pulled over to let the vehicle pass. The nearside wheel of Mr McCardle’s car went over the edge of the gorge, and before he could right it the vehicle left the road. It rolled over and over down a particularly steep part, and Mr and Mrs McCardle were both thrown out. Miss Piggott was carried further, almost to the bottim, where the vehicle finished in a stream.

The driver of the other car witnessed the accident, and help was immediately summoned. A stretcher was improvised from a piece of canvas, and on this the injured driver was carried back to the road, under particularly difficult conditions, owing to the failing light. He was later taken to the hospital by the St. John Ambulance.