KILLED BY CAR

Southland Times, Issue 20015, 1 November 1926, Page 9

KILLED BY CAR

DEATH OF YOUNG CHILD. “RAN IN FRONT OF MOTOR.” ‘This is a very sad case where a nice ' bright little boy has met his death,” remark- ! ed the district coroner (Mr G. Cruckshank, S.M.) at the inquest on Saturday on the death of William James Gibbs who was fatally injured by a motor on October 20. “One’a sympathy will go out to the parents, but at the same time one must feel sympathetic also to the driver of the ear (David Stewart), who has given his evidence fairly and clearly and has helped the Police in every way. Under the circumstances the whole thing was a pure accident and the most careful driver in the world might have knocked the boy over. The only way to stop these accidents is to give school child- , ren training in the use and the dangers of the road.” The first witness called was James George Gibbs, a coal merchant residing in Biggar j street, who said that he identified the body as that of his son, William James Gibbs, aged 5 years. The child was a pupil at the kindergarten school. Clifford Samuel James, house surgeon at the Southland Hospital, said that the boy was admitted on October 20 at 8 p.m. He was suffering severely from shock and was bleeding from inside the skull. There was a wound on the scalp and free bleeding • from the left ear. X-rays showed a double I fracture at the back of the head. After i admission the child rallied slightly but sank and died at 11.20 on October 21. The cause, of death was laceration of the brain and bleeding from the side of the skull. To the Coroner: The injuries witness had described could have been received through j the child’s being knocked down by a car. ! A boy of 11, Clarence Shirley, said that he was playing hockey with some other boys on the roadside on the day of the accident. Gibbs, who was watching the game, had ; a flat piece of board, which he was put- ! ting on the road in order to watch cars i running over it. Witness told him to stop, ;as he thought he might be run over. A I Ford van finally came along and Gibbs ■ ran out with the stick. Witness did not ■ actually see the car run over him, but first i noticed him lying on the ground. The • driver of the van pulled up, picked up the j child and took him into his grand-parents’ 1 house.

Cyril Shirley said that he was playing hockey with the other boys on the -evening of October 20, but left before the accident took place. Gibbs was running out with the board from time to time and witness told him to stop. One car that passed just before witness went away narrowly missed running over the child.

Robert Henderson said that the van was travelling down the middle of the raod and owing to the noise it was making he heard it about three blocks away. When the car was a short distance away the child Gibbs commenced to run across the road to his own gate. Judging by the noise it made the car was travelling very fast. David Stewart, at present residing in Pomono Road, said that on October 20 he was driving his Ford motor van down Biggar street. Just before the accident he was travelling at a speed of between 12 and 15 miles an hour. He saw a number of boys playing at the side of the road and sounded his horn, glancing aside to see that it was all clear. When he looked ahead again he saw the boy Gibbs running across the road straight in front of him. He was then just between the mudguard and the lamp on the right side. Witness immediately swerved to the side of the road. In his opinion the child must have sprung from the side just as witness glanced at the boys. It was quite likely that he slackened speed just before passing the boys but he would not swear to it. To Mr Raines (for Stewart) : Witness immediately applied his brakes which were in good order. The van was a fairly heavy one. Constable* William Nesbit, South Invercargill, said that in company with several other men he inspected the roadway after the accident. The car tracks ran along the middle of the road and witness obtained rough measurements by stepping. A more thorough examination was made next morning. The distance from where Stewart put on the brakes and where he hit the boy was 84 feet and the distance travelled after the boy was struck was 38 feet. He fixed the spot where the boy was killed by the fact that a piece of lamp glass was lying in a pot-bole, directly opposite- Gibbs’s gate. Witness was accompanied by the witness Henderson on this occasion and it was the latter who pointed out the marks. An inspection of the car later disclosed the fact that the brakes were in perfect condition and the silencer on the exhaust was missing. One of the lamp glasses was broken. Mr Raines: Don’t you think there is a chance of error in your saying that the distance between where the brakes were applied and where the boy was struck was i S 4 feet ? Witness explained that he meant that Stewart applied his brakes slightly when he observed the boys at the roadside, before he noticed the child Gibbs at all. A verdict was returned that deceased died of laceration of the brain caused by being accidentally run over by a motor car.