CYCLIST'S DEATH

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22108, 14 May 1935, Page 13

CYCLIST'S DEATH

ONEHUNGA ACCIDENT CONCLUSION OF INQUEST COMMENT BY THE CORONER The adjourned inquest concerning the death of Norman Francis Morse, acted 16, of 31 Rewi Road, Epsom, who died in the Auckland Hospital from injuries he received when his bicycle was involved in a collision with a milk float at tho corner of Selwyn Street and Trafalgar Street, Onehunga, on January 25, was concluded before Mr. Wyvern Wilson, S.M., coroner, yesterday. Mr. Wallace appeared for the relatives of deceased, and Mr. Butler represented the driver of the milk float. Evidence was given by Dr. Douglas George Phillips, of the Auckland Hospital, that ho saw deceased when he was admitted on the morning of January 25. He was suffering from severe shock, and there was evidence of a severe injury to tho chest. An operation was performed the same niglit. Doceased died the next day, and while tho exact nature of the injuries could not be ascertained, it was evident death was due to internal injuries. Milk Float Driver's Evidence In reply to Mr. Wallace, witness said he did not know the actual cause of death. No post-mortem examination had been held. Stuart Crawford Hastie, a farm labourer, driver of the milk float concerned in the accident, said ho was employed as a milk roundsman for two weeks in January by William Berrirpan, of Coronation Road, Mangere. When the accident occurred witness was driving out of Selwyn Street into Trafalgar Street. On his right, coming down Trafalgar Street from Royal Oak, was a cyclist who was free-wheeling and travelling very fast. The cyclist was looking behind him. " I could see a collision was imminent if the cyclist did not look where he was going," witness continued, " and I started to pull the horse in as quickly as possible. I swung him to tho wrong side of Selwyn Street—that is, to the right—to try to give the cyclist time to get past. When my horse entered Trafalgar Street it was walking, and it had stopped when the collision occurred." Tried to Swerve too Late The cyclist tried to swerve too late, and he got between the horse and the shaft, said witness. Three feet of the shaft was broken off. John Joseph Charles Russell, a drainer, said the cyclist, who was on his correct side of the road, did not look round. When the collision occurred the whole float was in Trafalgar Street and in the act of being driven up on the wrong side. Reviewing the evidence, the coroner said the cyclist was riding on the correct side of the road, and ran into the milk float which was on the wrong side. Unnecessary stress had been laid on the fact that a medical man had been unable to give the exact nature of deceased's internal injuries. There was no necessity for a post-mortem examination in this case.

A verdict was returned that deceased died from internal injuries suffered in a collision between the bicycle he was riding and a horse and cart driven by Stewart Hastie.