CYCLIST'S DEATH.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19510, 14 December 1926, Page 16

CYCLIST'S DEATH.

COLLISION WITH A BUS. QUESTION OF NEGLIGENCE. COMMENTS BY THE CORONER. An inquest concerning the death of John Johnson, as a result of injuries received in a collision between his motor cycle and a G.O.C. motor-bus in Great North Road, near the old Stone Jug, was concluded yesterday before Mr. W. R. McKean, S.M., coroner. Dr. C. McDowell said deceased suffered extensive fractures of bones of the face and skull. His condition was hopeless and he died within two hours of admission to the hospital.

Constable Spellman said the road at the scene of the accident was under repair, so that all traffic toward the city had to travel on the right-hand side of the road, the other side being roped off. The distance from the kerbing to the rope was 34ft., the concrete strip being 18ft. wide. The distance from the near wheel of the bus to the rope was 12i't. and from the off wheel to the kerbing 15ft. The distance from the point of impact to where the bus pulled up was 24ft,

John H. Leek, labourer, said he was a passenger in the bus, which was travelling on the left-hand side of the strip of concrete. He saw the motor-cycle approaching at a fast speed from the opposite direction. The rider had his head down and appeared to be adjusting something on the machine. Ho was then about the middle of the strip of concrete and was edging over to liis right-hand side. The bus was doing only about 10 or 12 miles an hour. Witness felt the brakes applied and £He bus swerved. He did not see the actual impact, but by that time the bus had almost stopped. .. On Wrong Side of Eoad.

Harold Helsby, orchardist, who was also a passenger in the bus, said deceased was well over on the wrong side of the foad. As he neared the bus ho swerved suddenly to cross to his correct side, and then suddenly swerved again into the bus. He struck the left-hand side of the radiator and was thrown on to the asphalt part of the road. ■ The bus-driver made two attempts to dodge the cyclist, pulling over to the asphalt and then over the opposite side when the cyclist swerved. Constable Hodgens said he examined the motor-cycle after the accident. The bus had evidently struck it pn the off side. Several other passengers in the bus and a motor-cyclist who was passing at the time also gave evidence. Witnesses said they did not hear a horn sounded by either the bus-driver or the cyclist. The Driver's Evidence. David Shannon, driver of the bus, after being warned that he need not answer any questions likely to incriminate him, gave evidence that he saw" the motor-cyclist leaning over the side of his machine and inclining toward the bus. Witnes was on the left-hand side of the part open for traffic. When deceased was a few feet away witness applied the brakes and swerved. Deceased then saw the bus and swerved into it. If he had kept on in the same direction the accident would not have occarfed. The road was clear of other traffic and the bus was practically stopped when the collision occurred. Deceased was not watching what he was doing. Witness sounded the horn before the collision, but a strong wind was blowing. The coroner returned a formal verdict that deceased died of injuries received through being knocked down by the bus; He added that negligence on the part of the bus-driver was shown by his "own evidence. He had the cyclist in view for three or four hundred yards. He was on the wrong side of the road and should have taken extra care for that reason. The cyclist had also been negligent but two wrongs did not make a right.