CROSSING SMASH

Southland Times, Issue 20887, 24 September 1929, Page 6

CROSSING SMASH

INQUEST ON VICTIMS

ACCIDENT AT CEMETERY ROAD NO ONE TO BLAME An inquest was held yesterday morning before the Coroner, Mr W. H. Woodward, S.M., concerning the deaths of John Crooks, aged 45, and Adam White, aged 62, contractors of Invercargill, who died as the result of an accident in which their motor lorry came into collusion with a train at the Cemetery Road crossing at 9.50 on the evening of Tuesday, September 10. The police were represented by Sergeant Abel, who conducted proceedings, and the Railway Department by Mr J. Paterson. Dr James Garfield Crawford gave evidence that shortly before 10 p.m. he received a call to Cemetery Road. He went to the railway crossing and found the deceased, John Crooks, placed on a stretcher in the ambulance. He had been removed from the recess under the cattle stops. Deceased had evidently been killed instantaneously; there was evidence of a fracture at the base of the skull. Witness found, lying along the north side of the line, the other injured man, Adam White, unconscious. As far as could be judged in the darkness, there did not appear to be very marked evidence of external injury.

Dr Owen-Johnston, Medical Superintendent of the Southland Hospital, said in his evidence that on the night of September 10, deceased, Adam White, was admitted to the hospital suffering from a fractured skull, laceration of the brain and a fracture of the left shoulder. He died at 5.40 a.m. on the 18th, not having at any time fully regained consciousness. Evidence of identification was given by Frederick James Pankhurst, boardinghouse keeper of East Road. The two deceased were at his house on the evening of the 10th. He was related to both. They had come to witness’s place, bringing witness’s son from his work in their lorry. They stayed the evening at witness’s place and, having had supper but no liquor, they left shortly before ten, perfectly sober, the deceased Crooks driving. Crooks was a good, careful driver. After a few minutes, witness noticed that a train had stopped at the crossing and went down to sec what was wrong. He then saw that it was the deceased Crooks and White who had been hurt. The train had not completely passed over the crossing, but it was a very long train.

The driver of the train, Charles Edward Gregory, in his evidence, said that he was driving a goods train from Gore to Invercargill on the night of the 10th. The train was about an hour and a-quarter late. About 200 yards from the Cemetery Road crossing, he blew the whistle. When he was some little distance from the crossing, he saw the lights of a car approaching along Cemetery Road. About two chains from the crossing, he again blew the whistle and continued blowing the whistle until the lorry struck the engine. The train would be travelling between 20 and 25 miles an hour. He did not think the deceased had made any attempt to stop. The lorry was not travelling fast, only at about 15 or 20 miles an hour. The lorry struck the engine just underneath the cab at the side on which witness was standing. The train was stopped in about 60 to 70 yards; it was actually stopped automatically because the impact of the car had broken the air-pipe and applied the brakes. There were no warning signals at the crossing. It was not considered a dangerous one because it was very rare that a vehicle was passed there. On the east side, there was a high hedge that blocked the views of drivers both of trains and of road-vehicles. The hedge came to within 30 yards of the line. The nearest bend to the crossing was about 100 yards to the east. Witness did not consider the crossing a dangerous one. The fireman of the engine, Wilfred Leslie McSwiggan, gave corraborativc evidence of the driver’s statements.

The guard, Patrick Davin, said he was watching the Westinghouse brake guage and he noticed it suddenly reduce pressure and the train stopped. As soon as he stepped out of the van, which was almost on the crossing, he saw the motor lorry against the fence. Witness got his lamp and found the deceased Crooks head down in the cattle stops. Crooks was alive then, but unconscious. Witness picked him up and made him as secure as he could until the arrival of the ambulance.

Constable Drake gave evidence that he had inspected the site of the accident ana had taken measurements. He produced a plan. The width of Cemetery Road was one chain, but only the central portion of it was gravelled. There was a clear view of 180 feet of railway line on the east side for a distance of 65 feet along the road from the line. From the tracks ot the lorry, it could be seen that just before the crossing the lorry inclined Ift 4ins to the right. That appeared to show that the driver did not sec the train until he was just on the line. There were the usual “Railway Crossing” notices. The lorry was a 21 ton Ford, fitted with four-wheel brakes and a hand-brake. The cab was completely enclosed, but the doors had glass panels in them.

The Coroner said that in accordance with the evidence he would return the verdict that the two deceased met their death through a collision between their lorry’ and a train at the Cemetery Road crossing on September 10. No blame was attachable to the officers of the train, the railway crossing signals were in order and the crossing was not a peculiarly dangerous one.