SUPREME COURT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 13050, 15 December 1905, Page 7

SUPREME COURT.

♦ MOTOR CAR AND TRAP COLLISION. VERDICT FOR £700 DAMAGES. The further hearing of the action brought ? by Edgar John Miles and his wife, Catherine Harriett Miles, against Ernest H. Bennett, an Auckland merchant, for £500 and £1500 damages, for alleged injuries received in a motor car-trap collision upon the Mount *■ Albert Road, on March 11 last, was continued -before His Honor Mr. " Justice' Edwards at the Auckland Supreme Court yesterday morning. ' ' Mr. J. 0. Martin appeared for the plaintiffs and Mr. Thomas Cotter (instructed by

M3r. Hanna) for the defendant. t Frederick Mendoza, engine-driver, said "that upon the afternoon in question he accompanied the defendant upon a drive to "Avondale and back. About a month prior to this witness had owned the car himself. | At top speed the car was capable of doing I - 14 miles per hour. On reluming froivi \ Avondale upon the afternoon of the 11th | titer passed the plaintiffs' trap. Witness | was driving. A little further, as witness . wanted to fill Sis pipe, he requested Mr. /•Bennett to take charge, and he pulled up tie car in order that Mr.-Bennett might do so. On the defendant assuming contr ii they proceeded up the hill, about 20yds :; or 30yds behind the plaintiffs' trap. The . ■ : .»r"was slowly gaining. When the car - 'was about 4yds off the trap it swerved out -'"■•i'towtrd; - the' right, in order to pass, and when it drew level with the vehicle, on the I, ' left, the horse shied, apparently on ac- " .'count of the noise the car was making. Mr. Mile." endeavoured to pull up the horse, . ' but the animal turned a little towards the right, with the result that the car, which was going faster, struck the animal upon 1 ■ the off toreleg. The horse reared, and proceeded up the hill for about 20yds, turn- ... Ed round, and came down the road again. | .'Witness, who had got out of the car, immediately went to the assistance of the occupants, who had been thrown out, while. .- Mr. Bennett, at witness* suggestion, turned the car on to the side of the road. Wit- : ness rendered every assistance possible to Mrs. Miles, who was perfectly conscious. The car went along all right* when they proceeded to town. If it was said that he [, told the defendant not to drive it would be' incorrect. He was positive that it was :- the trap which turned 10 the right, and not ■.' f the. car which turned to the left. Next day witness and Mr. Bennett went out to see how Mr. Mile was getting on. Wit- I ness expressed Li... sorrow at the accident having happened, whereupon Mr. Miles observed, " Oh, accidents will happen!" Mr. Bennett then said that the accident would not have happened at all had Miles not pulled the wrong rein. Mr. Miles said he sup- • posed that was so. The occupants of the trap fell out after the horse turned round and came down the road. ".'■':■,■'. To Mr. Martin: When the impact oc- '::'';. curred Mrs. Miles stood up and clung on to her husband. He could not say, however, what Miss Dunne did, although she was the nearest to him of the. occupants of the trap. ' ...'.■ Mr. Martin: You can't tell us what Miss - Dunne -was doing? Witness: No, I cannot rerr.cn.oer. -i Well, how is it, then", that you cannot , give us the particulars of the accident upon which your mind was concentrated, and yet you can give us word for word the conversation that occurred upon the following day between the 7- \ iKiii-i, Mr. Miles, and i yourself, when jo? L. no particular, veason ' then for recollecting It"! — Well, the most ! level-headed man in the world is bound to i get a little muddled when an accident oc- ■ \ curs. :• Mr. Martin: But you said that you were perfectly cool and collected at the time of the accident. Witness, in reply to the foreman of the jurv, said that the :iorse only shied , when'the cat drew - level'with it for the ■.■-■ B«cond time. Motor cars, when going up Liux, created moro. noise than at other -," times. -- - . Jfioinas-Copeland Sav&ge, surgeon, said tint- upon. August 14 ladt he examined Mrs. Miles, one of the plaintiffs in the action. In*. Girdler, Lowe, and Porter, and the husb'acd were present. He examined her to find out whether the pelvis" was fractured. It was important,"in vi-iw ci the woman's condition, that such an examination should be conducted. The examination lasted for about a minute and a-balf, during which time - Mrs. Miles never winced or !' showed any signs of pain. Even on j that morning she had informed him that ::,■■'■ » she never experienced the slightest pain. [ As a result of his investigations, he was 1 convinced that the woman's pelvic bone was not fractured, and that even if it had been tiere was absolutely no permanent injury now. Ee denied, the suggestion that his examination produced premature birth. The woman's collarbone, he found, had been broken, but was not permanently injured, and she would, perhaps, only be caused inconvenience by it with changes in the weather. Mr. Martin: Drs. Inglis and Porter have sworn that the pelvic bone was i'ractuied. Do you swear upon your oath that -' it. was not?—l do not flunk it was. Continuing, Dr. • said that he would admit that the woman had suffered a good deal of pain, but he believed that as soon as the worry of the case was over she would be all light again. .George T. Girdler, a medical practitioner, residing in Auckland, said that he was also g'esent at the examine of Mrs. Miles. e concuned in what Dr. Savage bad said. The examination which was conducted by Dr. Savage was not by any m-dans exces- ■ ■ sive, and did not seem to cause pain. Thomas Rose, a resident of Mount Al- > bert, said "that while he was standing at the corner of his house, in the vicinity of the scene of the accident, his attention was attracted by hearing screams coming from the' road. Owing to some trees obstructing his vision, he saw nothing until he observ- - ed a trap going down the hill. It was Miles' trap. Mr. Miles was standing, but he could not say what the other occupants were doing. The horse was plunging. Witness proceeded to his gate, where he found the trap overturned. Mrs. Rose, wife of tbfl hit witness, said :-°'P that she saw the trap go up the road and return again shortly afterwards. She did " not see the trap actually turn. Dr. Stopford, a former owner of the car in question, gave evidence as to the speed at which the car could go upon the road where the accident happened. He knew Mr. Bennett, who was in his opinion a % capable driver. This closed the case for the defence. Mr. Cotter and Mr. Martin addressed the jury, and His Honor summed up. The jury retired at ten minutes past five to consider /their verdict. On returning about an hour ' afterwards, they awarded £300 damages to Mr. Miles, and £400 to Mrs. Miles. The plaintiffs were also allowed costs according to scale. The. Court adjourned until half-past ten this morning.