FATAL COLLISION

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22402, 24 April 1936, Page 20

FATAL COLLISION

CHRISTCHUECH. CASE MOTOR-CYCLIST'S DEATH EVIDENCE AT THE INQUEST [BY TELEGRAPH —PRESS ASSOCIATION] CHKISTCHURCH, Thursday An inquest into the doath of a motor-cyclist, Thomas Redmond Murphy, who was seriously injured as a result of a collision on the main North Road recently, was held yesterday. A police photographer gave evidence of having examined a motor-car body, which, with the exception of the back, had recently been painted. Some of the mudguards had also been recently replaced. Raymond Leslio Moore said he saw the collision late at night on the main North Road. The motor-eyclo seemed to hit the side of the car, and travel on for a few yards and then crumple up. The car was travelling at 25 miles an hour and the motor-cycle at about 20. After the accident the car slowed down, and then continued on at the same speed. Further on the car stopped, and someone got out and looked back to the scene of the collision. The ear then drove of while Murphy was lying on the road with his motor-cycle on top of him. The visibility was fairly bad, with a heavy drizzle. The lamp of the motor-cycle was lighted. The coroner, Mr. F. F. Reid: Did you see the car in the yard of the Court this morning? Is it a similar type of car to the one you saw on the night of the accident? Witness: Yes. Alfred Cecil Sturt, aged 21, a salesman, of 531 Gloucester Street, said he owned a car similar to the one involved in the accident. He had held a driving licence for a month. On the night of February 8 he attended a dance at the Caledonian Hall, and later took some friends homo to Belfast. Driving conditions were bad and the car had a hand-operated windscreen wiper. All the side curtains were down.

Shortly after passing the Papanui tram terminus he felt a slight bump, but it was not sufficient to cause comment among the members of his party. Someone in the party said they had been hit by a car with only one headlight, but he had not noticed any vehicle approaching before the bump. Lan Cedric Lotrey, aged 18, now of Wellington, corroborated Sturt's evidence.' He said the car was travelling well on the left-hand side of the road. He felt "a little bit of a bump," which seemed like the car going over a sunken drain. The reason they did not report the bump for so long afterward was that they feared the possibility that Murphy had been struck by their car, and that they would get into trouble for not having reported sooner. They reported it when they knew the detectives were inquiring. The inquest was adjourned until Friday.