CYCLIST’S DEATH

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23528, 17 June 1938, Page 4

CYCLIST’S DEATH

FATALITY AT KENSINGTON; CONCLUSION OF INQUEST I STREET LIGHTING CRITICISED ! ! The opinion that the lighting of the street in the vicinity of the Ken- j singlon overbridge, near the inter-• section of Bridgman street and the Anderson’s Bay road, is insufficient and should be brought under the notice of the responsible local authority was expressed yesterday by the coroner, Mr H. W. Bundle, S.M., in a rider added to his verdict in an inquest on a cyclist who was killed at this intersection on the night of May 6. Thd inquest was on the body of Albert Vincent White, who, while cycling across the Anderson’s Bay road from Wharf street into Bridgman street, on the night of May 6, came into collision with a taxi, and suffered injuries from which he died next morning. Sergeant Johnston represented the police, Mr J. B. Deaker appeared for the relatives of the deceased, and Mr W. H. Carson for the driver of the taxi.

Dr J. L. Wright, house surgeon at the Dunedin Hospital, said that when the deceased was admitted to his ward, he was unconscious and breathing stertorously, and was bleeding from the right ear. An emergency operation was performed by Dr R. Fulton, and a fracture of the skull was disclosed. The deceased did not recover from the operation, and died on the following morning. In witness’s opinion, death was due to cerebral laceration and sub-dural haemorrhage, secondary to a fracture of the skull, the injuries being consistent with having been received in a road accident. Vicinity Badly Lighted Constable Claridge produced measurements taken at the scene of the accident, and a plan of the locality. On the evening following the accident witness again visited the locality, and found that the street surface was black and shiny. The overhead lighting was very poor and did little more than illuminate about a 10ft radius from the poles. There was no light which illuminated under the railway bridge at the intersection, and the nearest light on the city side of the Wharf street intersection was 249 ft away. For a distance of over 200 ft there was an area of unrelieved shadow, and witness noticed that several cyclists who passed through this were at times invisible. To Mr Carson, witness said that when he examined the locality a drizzling rain was falling, and conditions were similar to what they were on the night of the accident. Constable McKenzie said that shortly after the collision he saw a skid mark on the road, which showed that the car must have been travelling on its correct side. An examination of the deceased’s bicycle revealed that the left-hand pedal, the frame, and the front mudguard were bent. There was an electric lighting outfit attached to the cycle, which also had a white rear mudguard and red reflector. Accident Described

Gordon Ronald Forrest, the driver of the taxi, said he had had 15 years experience as a motor driver. On the night of the accident he was driving into town along the Anderson’s Bay road. He was driving on his correct side of the road at about 25 miles an hour—possibly less. The visibility was poor at the time, and he had his full headlights on and the windscreen wiper working. When he was almost on the intersection of Bridgman street and the Andersen’s Bay road, a cyclist appeared from his right and came directly across into the range of witness’s lights. Prior to this, witness did not see a sign of anything, nor did he hear a bicycle bell. As he saw the cycle his car struck it with the right hand front mudguard, and the rider was thrown to the right. After the impact, witness left the car and saw the deceased lying on the roadway, unconscious. The collision occurred in the shadow of the bridge, and to a certain extent, witness experienced some degree of glare from the street lights, which was intensified by the lights of five or six cars approaching from the city. To Mr Carson: The deceased was wearing a black Overcoat. He was quite certain that the deceased was not riding ahead of him when the collision took place. / Cross-examined by Mr Deaker, witness said that his right hand front window was open. He was not dazzled by the lights of the oncoming cars, and he was not affected by the glare of the street lights until he came out of the shadow This glare, however, was not sufficient to interfere seriously with his vision Leonard Lament, a taxi-driver, who was following behind Forrest’s car when the accident occurred, gave evidence that just before the collision, his speed would be between 20 and 25 miles an hour. The weather conditions that evening were bad. and visibility was very poor. Witness endorsed Constable Claridge’s evidence regarding the shadow in the vicinity of the intersection.

Robert Nilsen, who had been riding in company with the deceased, said that immediately before the accident the light on the deceased’s cycle was burning. David William Winder, who was looking from the window of a shop near the scene of the accident, said that Forrest’s car was not travelling fast, and after the collision it came to a stop almost immediately. At this corner the street lighting was very bad. Constable Crawford, who examined Forrest’s car after the accident, gave evidence that the brakes were in good order. Coroner’s Verdict The coroner said he was satisfied that at the time of the collision visibility was bad, and the evidence showed that the lighting at the spot was exceedingly poor. There was no suggestion that Forrest was driving other than carefully and at a reasonable pace On the evidence, the only verdict which could be returned was that death was due to cerebral laceration and sub-dural haemorrhage, resulting from injuries received when a cycle on which the deceased was riding was struck by a motor car driven by Gordon Ronald Forrest. “In my opinion,” the coroner added in a ridei, “ the lighting of the road at the locality where the accident occurred is insufficient, and should be improved.”