KILLED ON ESPLANADE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19496, 27 November 1926, Page 14

KILLED ON ESPLANADE.

RECENT SUMNER FATALITY JOINT CONTROL OF A CAR. STRONG COMMENT BY CORONER* [by TELEGRAPH. OWN CORRESPONDENT 1 CHRISTCHURCH. Friday. •• I do not usually make anv comments ' at inquests, but I think I ought to comment on the practice of two pe 0p ] 6 handling a car and neither knowing what, the other intends doing in regard to the gear?, speeds and other things'." said Mr 11. P. Lawry, S.M., district coroner," k recording his verdict at the. inquest this morning concerning the death of Mrs Matilda Feathers tone, who was killed at Sumner on Sunday, October 24. The coroner said he would return an open verdict, the cause of death being a fractured skull, sustained through being crushed against the monument by a car ' 1 riven jointly by Henry Neale and William John Lugg. That the joint control of the car had considerably contributed to the accident in the present case was beyond doubt said the coroner. When Mr. Lugg put ho engine into gear he must have put, it into top gear instead of into low. The speed which the car attained proved this. "I cannot comment too stronglv on the dangerous practice adopted on this occasion," concluded the coroner. Mrs. Feathersione was crushed against a seat on the esplanade on which she and her daughter, Sirs. Christina E. Martin, were sitting. Car Found in Top Qear, At the hearing Mr. Tracy appeared on behalf of the relatives of deceased, Mr. Sim represented Henry Neale, of Springston, driver of the car, and Mr. Sargent represented William Lugg, owner of the car. Angus Mitchell, traffic inspector for the Sumner Borough Council, said when ho examined the car after the accident it was in top gear. The car travelled 36ft. to cross the road and then turned., striking the stone coping I4ft. away. It. then struck the seat 19ft. further on. The car was brought to a standstill 48ft, from the " turn. The switch had been turned off and the engine stopped. Witness thought the car had started off in top gear, but the driver would probably not be aware of this until the back iwheels had spun through the sand and got a grip. To Mr. Sim witness said that cases had been known of the gears being changed when? cars had met with collisions or accidents. The fact that the car was in top gear after the accident did not necessarily mean that it was in top gear. when it started or when it struck the coping. It would be possible for anyone sitting on the left of the driver to operate tho gear lever while the driver attended to the clutch. If the car had not struck the coping it would have turned successfully and missed the seat. Car Bounded Away Suddenly. William John Lugg said he drove tho car down and it was suggested that Nealo should drive back. In starting, the car stalled at first bat on the second attempt it bounded away suddenly. The whole tiling happened so quickly that he was not clear as to what actually did occur. The car struck something before hitting tho seat. To Mr. Sim witness said tJSat Neale bad driven the car before. Witness was to attend to the gear changing while iNealo drove, They had doue this before satisfactorily. The reason for doing this was that Neale's left hand was infirm. Witness had never known the car to bound forward before. Neale's efforts to turn the car would have a tendency to make hiiii draw his feet under him and away from tho clutch. . To Mr. Sargent witness said he left tho car in neutral gear as was his usual practice. To the coroner witness said ho was certain he did not put th« ear into top gear. Henry Neale, clerk 'to the Springs County Council, said he had been driving a car for years, the gear levers always being on the right-hand side. Tho car was started from Sumner by witness first de-dutching with his left foot and putting his other foot on tho self-starter. He did not try the levers as he did pot understand them. When he let the clutch in the engine stalled. He started the engine again and when he let the clutch in the car jumped forward. Witness could not say what- gear the car was in but it started much faster than any car he had known.