MOTOR CAR WRECKED,

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 14912, 10 February 1912, Page 7

MOTOR CAR WRECKED,

COLLISION WITH A TRAM. TWO MEN IN HOSPITALS SEVERE CUTS AND BRUISES. A motor car was wrecked last evening by colliding with an electric tram in Dominion Road. Two men, the driver, and one of the passengers, were seriously injured, and are now in hospitals. The car was a public taxi-cab, owned by Messrs. Pullan and Armitage, and was driven by Frank Norman. Shortly before nine o'clock the party was being driven citywards at a moderate speed along Dominion Road. Nearly opposite the Empire Theatre, a tramear, travelling in the opposite direction, was met. The road was straight and well lighted, but apparently Norman was unable to steer clear of the tram, and the two vehicles collided with terrific force, the violent bursting of the car tyres, and the shattering of its woodwork, being heard at a considerable distance. The motorman, Pat Buckley, stopped the tram immediately he observed that the motor had not cleared the track.

The motor car was virtually ruined, the engine and the fore-carriage being smashed. The four occupants were all thrown out upon the road. The chauffeur was thrown through the glass screen ; his head, neck and jaw being severely cut. After he had been attended by Dr. P. Moir, he was taken to the district hospital. Mr. St. John Clarke, an accountant in the employ of the Tramway Co.,- who was in the back of the motor car, received severe scalp wounds, and the muscles of his neck were severely torn. After attention by Dra. . Briffault and Porter, he was conveyed to " Erinholme," a private hospital. The other two occupants of the car were only slightly, hurt. The force of the collision was evident from the destruction wrought upon the car, and its passengers had a remarkable escape from graver injuries than they sustained.

The tramcar was only slightly damaged, the front step being broken and the apron bent. It was sent to the Ponsonby depot for repairs.