FENDALTON FATALITY.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume III, Issue 881, 6 December 1916, Page 3

FENDALTON FATALITY.

CORONER'S INQUIRY. The circumstances under which Edward George Phillips, a shipping clerk, came to receive the injuries in a collision with a motor car driven by I)r \V. H. Simpson, and which injuries subsequently terminated fatally, were the subject of an inquiry by the Coroner, Mr 11. W. Bishop, S.M., at the Magistrate's Court yesterday afternoon. NO LIGHT ON BICYCLE.

William Harold Simpson, a medical practitioner, said that on Saturday, November 2,~>, about 8 p.m., he was motoring along Wairarapa Terrace, proceeding westwards. On turning into Garden Road he suddenly noticed, about two feet in and on the lefthand side of his car, a man coming towards him on a bicycle, carrying something green under one of his arms. Witness applied the brakes, but a collision occurred almost immediately. The man was thrown on to the side of the car. Dr A'Court, a dentist, was in the car with witness. Both jumped out and examined the man, who bad no had no light on his bicycle. Witness had sounded the horn at the corner of Wairarapa Terrace, and also at Garden Road. After the collision he immediately rang up for the ambulance, and when it came he sent deceased in it to the Christchurch Hospital.

To the Coroner: He was travelling about 10 to 12 miles an hour at the time.

Mr Bishop: You knew, I suppose, that it is a very dangerous corner? The Witness: Yes.

The witness added that the road was of the usual width. It was a very black night, and it had been raining.

To the Coroner: He came round from Wairarapa Terrace as near the middle of the road as motoring on the correct side would permit. This was so as to get a good view round the corner. The car and the bicycle collided about two-thirds of the way across the road. He had no difficulty in seeing from his car, which was closed in with glass. There was no more risk of obtaining a limited view from this type of car than any other. He was not hurrying at the time, and had finished his rounds. His car was a 2(>cwt one. The man was struck by the mudguard. A QUESTION OF SPEED.

The Coroner: From where the car actually pulled up and where the man was struck was some distance. I've, heard it suggested that you must have been travelling at a fair speed to account for this?

The Witness: That's easily explained. I have a weak heart, and it came as such a shock to me to run a man down that I let the car run on under its own momentum until it stopped. I knew at the time that the mischief had been done.

Francis Clifford A'Court, a dentist, stated that he was in the car with Dr Simpson at the time of the accident. He corroborated Dr Simpson's evidence. The speed at which they were travelling was not more than 12 miles an hour. He often motored with Dr Simpson, and considered him a careful driver. Just prior to the accident he had discussed this particular corner with Dr Simpson He considered it one of the most dangerous in the city. This was the reason why the horn was blown when the car was about 50 yards away from it. He was certain the bicycle had no light. He handled the lamp on the bicycle not more than 10 seconds after the collision, and it was then quite cold. He considered the collision was due to the deceased's own actions. The deceased was struck when coming at right angles towards the car. THE CORONER'S VERDICT.

The Coroner returned a verdict that the deceased, Edward George Phillips, died from fracture of the skull, as the result of an accident caused by a collision with a motor car driven by Dr W. H. Simpson.