MOTOR CYCLE ACCIDENT.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 13860, 25 March 1907, Page 6

MOTOR CYCLE ACCIDENT.

EVIDENCE AT THE INQUEST. A QUESTION 01? SPEED. (Pub United Press Association) ■ CHIUSTCHURCH, March 23 An inquest was held (his afternoon touching tho death of llio eight-year-old hoy, Fredrick Kenneth Gourlay, who was run viver by a niolor cycle on the New Brighton Beach yesterday afternoon and killed. Evidence was given Io the effect that tho cyclist was travelling at. a rate from 50 to 61) miles an hour, iminwliale-ly Wore the accident ha tried Io avoid tho hoy, but the latter became confused ami ran into .the machine. After a.short retirement the jury relumed the following verdict:—"Thai, tlac; deceased met his death from injuries received by. Ijojnjj knecked down by a. motor bicycle driven at an excessive rale of speed by one William Barnard Rlicdes Moorhouse; that the local body having the control of. tho New Brighton foreshore, lie urged to immediately take stops absolutely to prohibit persons driving inolors oars and bicycles over that teach al< an excessive or unreasonable rate of speed, such n practice causing" danger to all persons who have the right to use .such foreshoro as a. place of public resort." As si result of the fatality, ihc- motor tares which wore to ha.vo been held on Ihn beach (his afternoon were postponed indefinitely. (From Otte Own Correspondent.) CHRISTCI-lUEOH, March 24. One witness of the accident said a number of motor cars and motor cycles were on the beach during the afternoon practising for the races to be. held the following day. Moorhouso, I'hn ridor of tho cycle, altered his course- in order to avoid (he boy, but the lad ?iniply rushed into the machine. The force of the collision drove the lad for seven or eight feet. The motor cycle was travelling at from 50 Io 60 miles an hour at the ! time. He considered that motor eyeliner on the beach was a safe practice. Children were always playing about on the beach, and there was, of course, a certain amount of danger. Motor races had been held on the Now Brighton Beach for two or Ihrco years l>a«r, and were conducted by the Automobile Association and the Chrisfchurch Cycling Club, acting conjointly. They were run simply for commercial purposes, in order to advertise the successful machines. Another witness declared that tho boy appeared to ziffzag in an attempt to avoid the cyclist, and then the collision occurred. The boy was flung forward and thrown a distance of oboui 25 feet. A cyclo manufacturer, who at the time of the accident, was riding another motor cycle 30 yards behind Moorhouse, said hs was travellin? at about 45 miles per hour at tho time. The boy ran towards the sea, and as soon as lie storied Moorhouse's feet went to the ground, and he shut off the machine, ilad the boy slopped there would have boon no accident. Jloorhouse swerved, but the lad ran. towards the machine. The collision took place close to the son. Moorhouse <lid everything nossjblo to avert the collision. Moorhouse had thrown bis machine on its side before he struck the boy, and incurred serious nskj in attempting: to avoid the collision. Moorhouse, in his evidence, said Im saw two boys start to ran across the beach about 70 yards ahead of him. One turned back but the other went on. and hesitated and then ran on again in tho same direction as witness was iioing. He did his very utmost to stop the machine by relsasins the engine and using his feet on (he brake. He swerved to try ami avoid the boy, but failed, and struck him on tho left, side of the back. Witness, who was thrown quite clear of tho machine, was Iho first to get to Ihc boy, who ho thought was dead. Just before the accident he was (ravelling at his top speedover 50 miles an homy-but slowed down considerably before ho struck Ihc boy. At the time of the collision he was travelling between 30 and 40 miles per hour. He did not realise that there was any risk in riding along the beach.

THE CORONER'S ADDRESS.

The coroner, in addressing the jury, said that apart altogether from |ho restraining by-laws, no person bad the. rtght to use any place of public resort without taking due precautions for the safety of the public, and especially would that apply to a beach which was frequented by a number of children. It was all very well,to say that because, a certain association, or whatever it might be, thought proper to adverti?n spoils and offer inducnuienls to people to specially qualify, either by strength or cxpertness, for tho sporifi, (hat, I horci'oro, some excuse is afforded for people lo ride up and down the bench at anywhere from 45 Ic 69 miles an hour. • 'lie should l>o immensely surprised if such a view as that was upheld by any authority in tho land. It .seemed lo him that tho sports, if (hoy could be called sports, were promoted only for advertising purposes. To ride up anil down that beach at such an enormous high rsto of speed implied a certain degree of carelessness and negligence. It was quite another question whether that, degree of carelessness and negligence rendered that person either civilly or criminally responsible. It seemed to him that people who owned motor cars and inolor cycles were apl to consider that they had "got, rights which nobody else hud got, and'they did not consider tho rights of the public to the exlont he. thought they should bo considered. That was a matter which would be dealt with sooner or Jitter. In England ihe trouble had been dealt wilh upon very much stronger and more emphatic lines than hod yot been adopted in the colony. In the present instance the boy certainly appeared lo have to some extent deliberately placed himself in a position of danger, but children of tender years had to be protected oven against themselves. Tho rider of Ihe motor cycle did everything thai any reasonable person could do to avoid the accident, but the point was whether I hero was any act or neglect of his that led tin to the accident, and whether the fact that he could not pull up within a reasonable space while travelling at that high rate.of speed did not of itself constitute an element of danger. If there was any power in any local body to regulate the motor racing or to put a stop to 'it he had not tho slightest doubt that .something would lx\ done to put a slop to what ron.stitu.ted a grave clement of danger. Things had come to a pretly pass when one's children could not play on an open bench without the danger of being run clown by motor cars or motor cycles running at from' 45 to 60 miles an hour.