MOTOR-CYCLIST'S DEATH

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21876, 11 August 1934, Page 16

MOTOR-CYCLIST'S DEATH

PARKED CAR STRUCK NO WITNESS OF ACCIDENT VERDICT OF THE CORONER An inquest into the death of James Lowe Sutton, aged 27, who received fatal head injuries in a collision between the motor-cycle he was riding and a stationary motor-car on the Great North Road on July 14, was concluded by the coroner, Mr. Wyvern "Wilson, S.M., yesterday. Mr. Sutton, who was a single man and a bricklayer by occupation, lived in Valley Road, Henderson. He died after being admitted to the Auckland Hospital.

George Stoddard Ongley, soft goods salesman, said that at about 11.30 a.m. on July 14 he parked his car on the edge of the concrete, on the correct side, facing Henderson, and about a mile on tho city side of Henderson. Ho then went into a house, but heard a crash, and on investigating saw a voung man in an unconscious condition near the centre of the road. As far as witness could see, there were no other vehicles on the road, which at that point was straight for a considerable distance. Some time after the accident deceased regained partial consciousness and said something which gavo witness the impression that, ho had been "crowded" by another car travelling in the same direction as himself. Deceased's motor-cycle was lying behind witness' car, which had been pushed about sft. forward by the impact. Ernest James, farmer, of HenderBon, said ho was travelling home from the city at about 11.30 a.m. when a motor-cyclist passed him at an average speed. No other traffic passed him in either direction before he camo in sight of the motor-cyclist lying on the roadway. Constable Rushton said he had made -extensive inquiries, but no one had seen, any other car on the road at tho time.

"It seems clear to me that no one is to blame for the death of this young man except perhaps himself," said the coroner. "He was apparently semiconscious when he mado some remark about a car forcing him off the road, but the evidence of the witness James shows that there was no car except in the deceased's sub-consciousness." A verdict of death through the accidental collision of the motor-cycle and the car was returned.