ROAD ACCIDENTS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22805, 12 August 1937, Page 15

ROAD ACCIDENTS

CLAIMS FOR DAMAGES DEATH OF A WIFE HUSBAND'S ACTION FOR £IOOO DEFENCE DENIES LIABILITY A claim for damages brought by a husband as executor of his deceased ■w ifo s estate was heard yesterday by Mr. Justice Fair and a jury at the Supreme Court. Plaintiff, Niels Nielsen, farmer, of Auckland (Mr. Elwarth), as executor of his.wife, Anna Catarina Nielsen, sued Patrick Barry, of Remuera, contractor (Mr. Richmond), for £IOOO under the Death by Accident Compensation Act, 1908. The accident occurred at the corner of Dryden Street and - Williamson Avenue, Grey Lynn, on August 20, 1936. Mrs. Nielsen was a passenger in a motor-car driven by Mrs. Annio O'Neill, which came into collision with a car driven by Barry. It was claimed that the accident was due to Barry's negligent driving, and that Mrs. Nielsen's death a few daj's later was caused bv the injuries she suffered in the collisiou. She was 59 years of ago, and it was stated that tor two years before her death had been giving her husband massage treatment for an injured knee. Cause o! Death Questioned The defence asserted that the accident was caused, or at least contributed to, by negligent driving on the part of Mrs. O'Neill, and that Mrs. Nielsen's death was duo not to the accident, but to natural causes. Something new in the shape of models to illustrate the claim was set up on the Court table before the jury. It consisted of four strips of board placed at varying slopes to represent the grades of the four streets at the corner where.the accident occurred, and toy model cars, were also used. In a previous hearing of the case which ended in a jury disagreement the claim was for £3OOO general damages. Submission lor Plaintiff Mr. Elwarth said it must be admitted that there was some negligence on Mrs. O'Neill's part, but he would show that Barry's negligence was the substantial and final cause of the collision. Called by Mr. Richmond, John Edward George Barry, a nephew of defendant, who was a passenger with him at the time of the accident, said that' Mrs. O'Neill's car "seemed to flash on them very quickly" and struck them when they were almost stopped. Plaintiff, who gave his age as 64, said his wife was brought home from hospital on August 28 and two days later she collapsed and died. Ho desci'ibed the services she had been in the habit of rendering him. The case for plaintiff had not been completed when the hearing was adjourned until this morning. MAORI'S ELBOW FRACTURED

STRUCK BY PASSING LORRY

Tho hearing of a claim for damages brought by a Maori, David Mikaere, of Ohape, near Opotiki (Mr. Hodgson), against Te Whaka Waiapu, of Omarunuitu, carrier (Mr. A. H. Johnstone, K.C., and Mr. Blomfield), and Alfred Whitman Ruff, -of Nukuliou North, carrier (Mr. North and Mr. Wallace), was continued before Mr. Justice Callan and a jury at the Supreme Court yesterday. - The claim arose out of an accident on the Whakatane-Opotiki highway on February 16 of last'year. Plaintiff was a passenger/in a motor-truck owned by the defendant. '-Te Whaka Waiapu, and driven by his - agent, Warakihi Waiapu, when he was struck by a truck, owned by Alfred Ruff and driven by his agent, lan Ruff, passing; in the opposite direction. Plaintiff was struck on the right arm and suffered a compound fracture of 'the elbow. He claimed that the accident Avas due to the negligence of either one or both of the drivers, and asked for £4OO general and £l9B special damages. : . For the defence, Waiapu" denied that plaintiff was a passenger for hire with him, and both defendants denied negligence and alleged that the accident was due to plaintiff's own carelessness in projecting his arm beyond the side of the trunk. Evidence in support of the claim was heard throughout the day and witnesses for the defence will be heard to-day.