CAPSIZE OF TRAMCAR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17348, 20 December 1919, Page 10

CAPSIZE OF TRAMCAR.

i» —i —■ THE HEATH COTE FATALITY, COMMISSIONER'S FINDING. TRAMWAY BOARD CRITICISED [BY. TELEGRAPH. —PRESS ASSOCIATION.] CHBISTCHTJKCH. Friday. The finding of Mr. S. E. McCarthy, S.M., the commissioner appointed to inquire into (the fatal tramway accident at Heathcote'on May 15, states that the tram and trailers were loaded with passengers beyond the limit of safety, and that the practice of overcrowding is common and is connived- at by the Tramway Board for financial reasons. The derailment ot the car was the joint result of defective track conditions, the presence of a stone in the points, and excessive speed. Answering the several questions set out in the order of reference, the commissioner finds as follows: — (a) The tram at the time of derailment was travelling at ah excessive rate of speed. Trailer 58 did not jump the points, but split them owing to the presence of an obstructing stone. • (b) Each carriage of the tram was loaded beyond the limits of safety. (c) The tram w,as inadequately manned. At the time of the accident it had only one conductor. It should have had three. (d) There was not an effective system of signalling, and this defect was a factor contributing to the overturning of trailer No. 58. * (e) The tramway track and permanentway were, apart from the defects indicated, in good order. ff) The time allowed by the time-table for the Christehurch-Sumner section is insufficient if the motorman is compelled to maintain an even speed of four miles an hour when passing through points and to make customary stops and a reduction of speed. (g) The accident was partly due to the negligence of the motorman in driving at an excessive rate of speed, partly to the presence of a stone in the points, which presence might have been unknown to the motorman when approaching them, and partly to overcrowding, undermanning, and an inefficient signal system. . (h) There are no other causes which will account for the accident. Included among the recommendations is the following:— H l* would , suggest that each car be licensed to carry a definite number of sitting and standing passengers, the latter to be located in the aisles at the discretion of the conductor, and the number licensed to be printed in a conspicuous place on each vehicle." The commissioner cannot recommend the cancellation of the motorman's license, and concludes: "In my opinion the board is more culpable than he." The accident at Heathcote occurred on the afternoon of May 15. The tramcar capsized and as \ result about thirty passengers received injuries. One of them subsequently died in the hospital.