INQUEST HELD

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22466, 9 July 1936, Page 14

INQUEST HELD

NO BLAME ATTACHABLE RIDER BY THE JURY LOOK-OUT MAN SUGGESTED [llY TF.r.KOIIAI'H —i'KKSS ASSOCIATION] INVE RCA ROI Lb, Wednesday The inquest into the death of Mr. Percy Leigh Overton, who was killed by an avalanche at Homer Tunnel on Monday, was held to-day at the camp headquarters before a coroner and jury. The finding was that death was caused through suffocation as the result of being buried under snow, no blame being attachable to the Public Works Department or any other person. A rider was added that, it was considered that owing to the treacherous nature of the country, a look-out man should bo appointed in normal weather, and that work should bo suspended when visibility was bad. DANGERS OF THE ROUTE PROTECTION FOR MOTORISTS [ 11Y TELEGRAPH —I'KKSS ASSOCIATION J INVIiRCARUI LL, Wednesday When the district engineer of the Public Works Department, Mr. T. M. Hall, was communicated with at Dunediii and asked to comment oil the safety of the To Anau-Milford Road, he made the following statement: —" There is an element of danger from avalanches on all mountain roads, but when the Tc AnauMilford Road is open for traffic this danger will be minimised by the fact that there will bo surfacemen on the road to give travellers ample warning when conditions are such that it would bo unwise to proceed. This should occur only a few times in winter, if the risk of an avalanche is serious motorists will be prohibited by the surfacemen from proceeding. These surfacemen will be well versed in the conditions making the hazard of proceeding too great —a thaw caused by rain following a heavy fall of snow on the mountainside—but as J have previously said such conditions will rarely occur. "On all mountain roads there is the same risk. The Milford Road is a departure in road construction in New Zealand, but there is no need for alarm about the safety of the road when it is opened for traffic. This is my considered opinion, based on the knowledge that the- surfacemen will protect motorists from undue risk when conditions are unsafe."