FATAL MOTOR ACCIDENT

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23110, 9 February 1937, Page 4

FATAL MOTOR ACCIDENT

FIRE ENGINE AND CAR COLLIDE

INQUEST ON VICTIM CONCLUDED

The adjourned inquest on the body of Alice -Kate Goodall, the : victim of a fatal collision between a fire engine and a motor car, 'hyhich occurred at the corner of Cargill . road and Anderson’s Bay mad on ' the evening of November 28, was* v concluded yesterday ; at the - court-; house,, Mr H; W. Bundle, S;M.f Sit,ting as cGronef.'-, Mr.A. G. Neill ■ appeared -for the Metropolitan Fire •. Board, and, Mr E. J. Anderson for the driver of.the motor car and the. relatives of - the, deceased, and Sergeant Stark conducted proceedings on behalf of .'the police. ' • ■ Dr T.. W. Harrison, a house sur- ( geon at Dunedin Hospital,; stated that the deceased was admitted on November 28, suffering from a fracture of .the shoulder blade, a fracture of the collarbone, fractured , ribs,, and wounds on the scalp and .right cheek. She was severely • shocked, but , after collapsing; twice ' her condition improved.' She' sank again, and died on January' 28, the . cause of death, in witness’s opinion, : being internal injuries received in .the collision. • : Robert. Charles Collins, the driver

of the car in which, the deceased was travelling, said .that the' car was proceeding: north along Anderson s Bay road, the speed being about 15 to 20 miles an hour just before, the corner of Cargill road and Anderson’s Bay road was reached. There was very little traffic on the road, but witness at no time heard the siren of a fire engine. As the car neared the corner of Cargill road he saw the, fire engine, shoot out; from that street, at between 30 to 35 miles an hour, and) he swerved, to avoid it, The next thing he knew was that the fire engine struck'the

car and turned it over. At the time of the accident the car was travelling about halfway between the near tramline and the kerb, and the engine appeared to be travelling on the right side of Cargill road. The car was thrown over the.-'two sets of tram rails to the other side of the road. He could not account for his not having heard the siren, To Mr Neill: The window on the driver’s side of the car was . up, within about an inch of the top. There was no talking going on in the car just before it reached the corner. When he first saw the fire engine it was about 18 feet away from the car. Only a matter of seconds elapsed, between the time he first saw the engine and the collision, and in his opinion the engine did not seem to slacken speed before it struck the car, which took the impact midway between the two dooi’s. Examined by Mr Anderson, witness said he slowed down'to cross the railway line which runs over the road not far from the corner, and again when he passed the frontage of the building on the corner. He had been driving motor vehicles for upwards of 20 years, and was quite at home in the. type of car he was driving when the accident occurred. Mabel Collins, wife of the previous witness, who was sitting alongside her husband when the collision took place, gave corroborative evidence as to the speed of the • car, and said that she did, not at any time hear the siren of alfire engine. William L. S. M'Cracken. the owner of the car, stated that the machine was fitted with four-wheel hydraulic brakes and was in good mechanical order. Collins, who was his brotherrin-law,-was a competent driver. ~ •' Ronald John Mulrooney, a schoolboy, said that about 7 o’clock on the evening of November 28 he was standing on the Cargill road, a block away from Andex - son’s Bay road. He saw the fire engine pass him, ti’avelling fairly fast, and heard the siren sounding loudly. This sound decreased, and the speed, also, as the engine approached the corner of Anderson’s Bay road. The speed increased again at the corner, and witness fii’st saw a cloud of dust and then a car rise above the engine before rolling over on its side. The engine stopped after it hit the car. The engine was travelling along the centre of Cargill road. John Hollick, a motorman in the employ of the City Tramways Department, said that about 6.42 on the evening of November 28. a motor car passed the tram he was driving, near the gasworks railway crossing on Anderson’s Bay road. The car, was travelling at about 18 miles an hour, and well on the left-hand side of the road. Witness heard the siren of the fire engine while his tram was standing at M'Bride street, but he did not hear it after that, and he drove slowly to allow the engine to come out of Cargill road. The car driven by Collins; was directly in front of him, and as it reached the corner of Cargill road it turned sharply to the right and was immediately afterwards struck by the fire engine. Witness assisted in removing the passengers and driver from the motor car. To Mr Neill: The point of impact was on the outer rail of the inward tram track. To Mr Anderson: Had his tram not been stationary at M'Bride street, he would probably not have heard the siren of the fire engine After the collision took place the engine was slightly on the right hand of the line of Cargill road. When he heard the siren, he was not certain that the engine was in Cargill road, but he was on the lookout for it coming out of that street. Joseph Victor Salmon, officer in charge of the South Dunedin Fire Station, stated that at 6.30 p.m. on November 28 the engine, driven by

Driver Pope, left to attend a fire at Anderson’s Bay. From the station ; to Cargill corner the speed would be .approximately 3.5 miles an.'hour,! over the ■ intersection of King Edward street about 20 -milfes 'an hour, and along Cargill road 'to > Anderson’s Bay road 35 miles an hour. As i the engine approached Anderson’s Bay road speed was reduced-to about 15 miles an hour. The siren, which was belt-driven from the engine, was sounding continuously all the I way • along Cargill road. As the j engine approached Anderson’s Bay road witness was keeping a lookout i to the'left! and the. next, thing he. knew was collision. He would not call'the impact, violent, as the, car appeared to strike the fire en- 1 gine’a glancing blow, and the back of it rode over- the radiator. The \ corner was one where every pre- i caution was necessary,' as on .the , right-hand side was a building which blocked any view of Anderson s Bay road. Crossrexamined by Mr Neill, witness said that the siren did not -work automatically. It was worked by a foot pedal and witness was operating this ‘right up to the time of the collision. 5 , - To Mr Anderson: He had since received instructions from the superintendent- that the engine,, when crossing Anderson’s Bay road from Cargill road, was to Reduce speed to five miles an hour. He’would think that,at 15 miles an hour,,the machine could be stopped in- 20 to 25 Tee.. At lower* speeds the sound, of. the, siren died away, considerably, so that a man . on' Anderson’s Bay road, behind the gasworks building, could very well miss hearing it. Instructions had how been given by the superintendent that drivers, instead of relying on the siren -at corners,, had to keep a look-out. - Frank Pope, who was driving the fire-engine at the time of the accident, supported the previous witness’s evidence as to the speed of the machine. He first saw the motor car just as he came out of Cargill road, and it was then about 15 or 18 feet, away from the corner, coming towards him.- The driver swerved to the right, whereupon witness applied both brakes, travelling about 18 feet before he pulled up. The engine had stopped when the car struck it. To Mr Neill: He had since tried the siren when travelling at 15 miles an hour, and had found that it could be heard satisfactorily. To Mr Anderson, witness said that he did not have time to change down at the corner, although he generally did so. There was no competition between the City and South Dunedin Brigades as to which would be the first to arrive at a fire. Evidence was also tendered by Constable Elmes, who produced a plan and measurements taken at the scene of the collision. The coroner said the evidence showed that Collins was travelling at a reasonable pace, and that the driver of the fire-engine was also proceeding with all reasonable caution. The corner was a bad one, but, while a fire-engine normally had the right-of-way, the driver in this instance was exercising normal care. Unfortunately, however, the sound of the siren decreased correspondingly with the decrease in the speed of the engine. He was unable to find that Collins was in any way negligent, and he did hot find that the driver of the fine-engine was driving in other than a proper manner. The verdict would be that death was caused by general toxaemia following non-functioning of the kidneys, due to injuries received in a motor collision on November 28.