CLAIM FOR £1500

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23280, 24 February 1939, Page 12

CLAIM FOR £ISOO

YOUNG MAORI'S DEATH COLLISION NEAR TAURANGA MOTOR DRIVER'S EVIDENCE fee hearing of a claim for damages by the parents of a Maori youth who was killed in a motor accident near Tauranga on June 17 was continued before Mr. Justice Fair arid a jury in thfl Supreme Court yesterday. The action was brought by Karora Kohu, of Judea, labourer, and his wife, Ngawai Kaukau Ataiti (Mr. Coone.v and Mr. Thomson), who claimed from the Tauranga Electric-Power Board (Mr. V. R. Meredith and Mr. N. I. Smith), £3O for funeral and hospital expenses and £ISOO general damages. The accident happened at the corner of the Judea Road and the main Waihi-Tauranga Road, when a Power Board truck driven by Harold William Davidson collided with a bicycle ridden by Niwhai Kohu, the 17-year-old son of the plaintiffs. Evidence by Constable

Giving evidence for the plaintiff, Constable H. G. Hodge, of Tauranga, said that after the accident he found Davidson's lorry on the wrong side of the road. There were marks where the Maori boy had been lying on the grass about 18ft. from the back of the lorry. It was a very dangerous corner. Similar evidence was given by Constable F. C. Lockie, .of Tauranga.

Opening the defence? Mr. Meredith said Davidson was a very experienced driver, covering about 20,000 miles a year. Crash Through Windscreen Harold William Davidson, troubleman, employed by the Tauranga Elec-tric-Power Board for the past ten years, said lie wqs travelling at a normal speed of about 35 miles an hour, but slowed down when approaching the Judea Road corner. A Maori on a cycle shot out from the side road at a fast rate, and witness put on his brake and swerved to the right. The cyclist continued straight on, striking the left front of the car and catapulting through the windscreen, with his bodv on the bonnet. Witness got the full force of the broken glass.

When the Court was about, to rise for the day, the foreman said the jurymen were not satisfied with the scale models and would like to view the scene, which is about 150 miles awaj-. Mr. Meredith said it would be a five-hour journey. After the matter had been considered in Chambers., His Honor said that, in view of the long distance, counsel concurred in desiring that the jury should attempt to decide the case on the evidence, with the assistance of the models and plans provided, and so avoid expense and delay. The hearing was adjourned untill this morning.