CYCLIST CLAIMS DAMAGES

Southland Times, Issue 25679, 23 May 1945, Page 6

CYCLIST CLAIMS DAMAGES

INJURIES SUFFERED IN' ACCIDENT A c.ase arising from a collision between a bicycle and a motor-car was heard in the Supreme Court yesterday before his Honour Mr Justice Kennedy and a jury of 12. Leslie Laycock (Mr S. M. Macalister) claimed £349/6/8 special damages and £lOOO general damages from George Edmond Elliott (Mr A. N. Haggitt, Dunedin). The case will be continued this morning. Mr Macalister said that the plaintiff was a skilled tradesman and for years he had been something of an athlete. Since 1929 he had been a cycle rider, racing on tracks and roads. He had kept himself fit and there had been nothing wrong with him except a weak knee, which had caused him to be rejected from military service. His fitness at the time of the accident had probably saved him from death. The accident had happened when the defendant was attempting to break a road cycling record for unpaced cycling in one hour, Mr Macalister said. The circumstances were unusual. Negligence was the absence of care according to the circumstances. It was alleged that the defendant had been negligent according to the circumstances. Laycock had struck the rear of the official car, driven by the official driver —the defendant. Laycock’s attempt on the recprd had been made in accordance with the rules of cycling and had been made under expert supervision. The driver of the car had been a cyclist himself for a number of years. Counsel then outlined the organization of cycling in New Zealand. Riders were all registered, he said. The plaintiff was a registered rider. The official car when it stopped did so off the road surface. If it did not, someone would alight and warn any oncoming cyclist of the fact. It was necessary that the official car should not cause any obstruction to the cyclists. The road was used as a racing track and the ordinary rules of the road did not apply. FEDERATION NOTIFIED The officials were supposed to be watching the road. The plaintiff had notified the cycling federation of his proposed attempt on the record, and his request for an official car and other conditions had been agreed to. There was a strong wind blowing and he had proceeded to Dacre at a high speed. In doing this with a following wind he sat erect to prevent “hammering.” At Dacre he was turned by an official. On the return journey the plaintiff had crouched over the handle-bars and had ridden on the left hand edge of the bitumen. The official car had followed him for a few miles and then the driver oh the car had gone ahead. He had taken this responsibility on himself. There had been no traffic on the road on the way out or until after the accident. The defendant as an experienced cyclist knew his position. He had taken the car some distance ahead and had then stopped it at the side of the bitumen, but right in the path of the oncoming cyclist. Laycock was quite honest about what happened. He said that he glanced up about 300 yards from .the car, saw the car and recognized it. He did not dream, however, that it had stopped or that it would stop. He had collided with the back of the car and had been seriously injured. His spine had been fractured and he had suffered other injuries. He had been in plaster for several months and had been off work for eight months. His spine was slightly bent and the medical evidence would show that he would probably have trouble with his spine later in life. In giving evidence, the plaintiff said that in November 1943 he had decided to make an attempt on Foubister’s New | Zealand unpaced hour record. He had written advising the Cycling Association of his proposal, and asking for officials and an official car. The course fixed had been the city boundary to 14 miles out —to the Dacre Hall—and as far back as the hour would permit. He had been granted permission to make the attempt. It was the duty of the officials to warn other traffic and, should they find someone who refused to shift his vehicle, to warn the cyclist. In the event of an official car stopping ahead of q rider, it was usual for one of the officials to get out and keep a look out for the rider. The defendant, who had been the official driver, was an experienced man. The plaintiff demonstrated in court on the bicycle used in the attempt on the record his method of riding going out and coming in. He said that before he put his head down on the return journey there was no traffic on the road. He had glanced up occasionally to see if the road was clear. He had seen the official car about 300 yards ahead at one stage. He had assumed that it was still travelling. The plaintiff spoke of his work as a glass beveller, and. said that all the strain was taken by the back. Since the accident his back had got sore when he was handling large pieces of glass. A NEW VENTURE To Mr Haggitt, the plaintiff said that the Invercargill Amateur Cycling Club had not asked him to make the attempt on the record. It was a new venture in the province. It was not fair to suggest that the club had obliged him by providing the officials and the official car. He had decided to make the attempt to give publicity to the club. The club had been acting on behalf of the cycling federation; not on his behalf. The club had not selected him to make the attempt. He agreed that riders had to look where they were going in a race. He was familiar with the rules. Mr Haggitt produced a hand-book of the New Zealand Amateur Cycling Association which, he said, contained the rules of cycling. These rules provided that all competitors must adhere to the rules of the road. The plaintiff agreed that this was so. The plaintiff agreed that there might easily have been other traffic on the road and that there might have been children or wandering stock. He did not remember saying that he blamed no one but himself for what had happened. He had made a statement to the police that it was his own fault and that he had been riding with his head down. That statement .was not true. He had made it to protect Elliott in case there was any trouble. Oliver J. Henderson, secretary of the Invercargill Amateur Cycling Club at the time of the attempt on the record, was giving evidence when the adjournment was taken at 5 p.m. Following are the members of the jury: Messrs W. F. Webb (foreman), G. E. Phillips, V. H. Murray, A. E. Clark, G. L. Cleasey, W. H. H. Cotterell, H. W. Paterson, A. Mackay, G. D. Frobarth, E. G. Davis, H. Lilley and C. M. Reid. Mr Macalister challenged six jurors : and Mr Haggitt three.