HURT IN COLLISION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20950, 13 August 1931, Page 13

HURT IN COLLISION.

DAMAGES FOR A FARMER. LADY TEACHER AS DEFENDANT. A motor collision which occurred on the main Whangarei-Dargaville Road, near Dargaville, on April 25, 1930, was the basis of a claim for damages heard by Mr. Justice Herdman and a jury in the Supreme Court yesterday. Plaintiff was John Phillips, farmer, of Awakino Point, Dargaville (Mr. Meredith and Mr. Beattie, of Dargaville), and defendant was Miss Valda Rout., school teacher, of Whatawhata, near Hamilton (Mr. Richmond). The case for plaintiff was that a "baby" car driven by Miss Rout collided at the intersection of Grey Street and Jervois Street, near Dargaville, with a sedan car driven by Mr. Phillips and knocked it over on its side in the road. Plaintiff claimed that the accident, was due to the manifold negligence of defendant and that he had suffered severe injuries to his right hand and head, so that he would be permanently hampered in his work of dairy farming. He claimed £630, made up of £SOO general and £l3O special damages. The defence was a denial of any negligence on the part of defendant and a counter-allegation that plaintiff had been guilty of negligence which caused the accident. After plaintiff's case had been heard, Mr. Richmond applied for a non-suit on the ground that in taking no steps to avoid the collision plaintiff had been guilty of contributory negligence disentitling him to succeed in his claim. His Honor reserved the point. At the close of the case His Honor remarked that the witnesses had been perfectly honest. He mentioned specially that both plaintiff and defendant appeared to have been perfectly irank. His Honor declined Mr. Richmond's request to put certain specified issues to the jury, saying that he never did so. "I always think issues confuse a jury," he said. The jury returned a verdict for plaintiff for £l5O general and £7O special damages and judgment was entered accordingly. Mr. Richmond reserved leave to move for a new trial within 14 days.