ADJOURNED INQUEST

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 56, Issue 4054, 30 May 1938, Page 5

ADJOURNED INQUEST

DEATH OF WILLIAM ELLIOT. MOTOR COLLISION SOUTH OF KIHIKIHI. The adjourned inquest touching the death of an Otorohanga taxi driver, William Elliot, after a collision on the Great South State Highway on the afternoon of Tuesday, April sth, was resumed at the local Courthouse this morning, before Mr G. A. Emp son, Coroner. Mr S. S. Preston appeared for the Waipa County Council and Snowden; Mr J. Oliphant (instructed by Mr Hine, Te Kuiti) for Foley, and Mr W. J. C. Patterson for the wife of deceased. Evidence of identification had been given by E. H. Brinkman, at Kihikihi, on the night of the fatality. NATURE OF INJURIES. Dr F. Clough .Blundell, in evidence, said he was called to the scene and on arrival he was taken to the side of the road w’-ere a man had been placed and . <« i cted as well as possible from U Witness was told the man’s name was W. Elliot. The latter was in extremis. There was a deep wound on the left eyebrow, his chest was crushed and his ribs fractured. He died within five minutes of witness’ arrival. There was no smell of alcohol on Elliot’s breath. Witness attended to the two passengers, Mr George with a fractured thigh, and Mr Foley with injuries to face and ribs. Both these men smelled strongly of alcohol. Elliot’s death was due to shock following severe injuries to his chest. ABOUT THE COLLISION. Thomas George, whose evidence was taken at the Waikato Hospital on May 19th, said he was a tobacconist in business at Otorohanga. At about 12.45 p.m. on April sth John Foley invited witness to accompany him to Kihikihi and back, by car. The car was a taxi driven by William Elliot, of Otorohanga. At the Star Hotel he had three medium beers; Foley also had some drink, and Elliot, who very seldom drank at all, had a very light porter-gaff—only the one drink. Witness bought two bottles of beer to take home, and Foley also bought some bottles of beer, probably three They were at the hotel only about 15 minutes. On the homeward journey Foley and witness were in the back seat, Foley being behind the driver. When about a mile south of Kihikihi witness saw a lorry crossing the road from an intersection. The car was then about a chain away from the lorry. Elliot was not travelling fast, probably not more than 25 miles an hour. “LOOK OUT, BILL!’’ Continuing, witness said apparently Elliot did not see the lorry. He was not talking to the passengers, but appeared to be looking at his gears or something. Witness was ex pecting him to do something with his car as the lorry was just in front, but Elliot did not appear to see it. Light rain had just commenced. Witness called, “Look out, BUI!” to draw his attention to the lorry. The car was pretty close to the other vehicle. Elliot looked up, but it was then too late, and the car ran into the lorry and stopped. Witness said he did not remember much about what Happened after the car struck the lorry. His leg was hurt. He heard Elliot say, after the accident, “I’m all right.” Then Elliot’s head fell sideways, and he died. Witness did not think that Elliot saw the lorry until witness yelled to him. He had seen the lorry before, he yelled to Elliot. The car was then a good chain from the lorry and witness was expecting Elliot to pull off and avoid it, tut apparently he did not see it. Witness considered the cause of the accident was that Elliot did not see the lorry until it was too late for him to avoid hitting it. Visibility was good on the road before the accident, but heavy rain occurred af terwards. Witness was later taken to the Waikato Hospital for treatment. CORROBORATION. John Foley, farm worker, at Hill’s Block, Otorohanga, gave evidence to the same effect, adding that he de finitely did not remember anything after the impact until he arrived at Otorohanga. He remembered getting out of the car, which contained Maoris, at Otorohanga. He did not know how he came to be in the car, or the time of arrival in Otorohanga. He remembered going into Addison's shop and that a doctor looked at him and said: “Get to Te Kuiti Hospital at once.” Some one got another taxi and conveyed witness to hospital, where he had remained. Continuing,Foley said he did not remember seeing the lorry on the road, nor any other traffic. He did not remember Elliot looking behind at any time. As far as witness could remember, Elliot had no liquor while in company with witness and George. PLAN PREPARED. Douglas E. Trevarthen, engineer in the employ of the Waipa County Council, said on the afternoon ot April sth he was informed that ' a county truck and a motor car had collided at the intersection of Alien’s Road and the State Highway, and that some occupants of the car were badly injured. Witness hurried to the scene, which was one mile and onefifth south of Kihikihi. Neither oi the vehicles had been moved in any way since the impact. Witness took measurements, and with spikes marked the respective positions of both vehicles. From those measurements he later prepared the plan (produced). Further questioned, Trevarthen said there was no indication of the car having been dragged. He went on to explain the plan and the photographs. The Coroner said he knew the locality, and there was a fairly high bank somewhat obstructing the view of a driver in Allen’s Road. Mr Preston said there was plenty of visibility, as shown on the plan; a driver in Allen’s Road would see any vehicle approaching on the State Highway while he was 100 yards away. The Coroner: Maybe; but right near the intersection the view is not good. LORRY DRIVER’S EVIDENCE. George W. Snowden, lorry driver, employed by the Waipa County Council, said he was driving the Council’s lorry No. E 787, carting shingle. At

about 2 p.m. he was driving along Allen’s Road, approaching the main highway. The lorry was loaded with shingle. He drove slowly as he approached the corner. Before reaching the line of intersection he observed a motor car travelling south along the main highway. It was then about 10G yards from the intersection. He drove the lorry over the intersection and turned north. He had driven right across the highway and straightened up on the correct side at about 12 miles per hour. As he crossed the highway he noticed that the driver ot the approaching car had his head turned and was not looking along the road. The driver seemed to be talking to some one in the rear seat. The car was drifting towards the wrong side of the road. When witness’ vehicle straightened up the car was about two lengths away. The car driver then turned his face to the front and would then have seen witness. The car then seemd to swerve more acutely towards the lorry. Witness had stopped the lorry and was not moving. The car front wheel struck the lorry on the side just in front of the rear right wheels. The car was not travelling very fast but seemed to accelerate just before the impact. There was no other traffic on the road at the time. Visibility was good, though there was very slight rain falling. Witness was convinced that i inattentiveness on the part of the car driver caused the accident. The lorry with its load weighed about five tons. It appeared to witness that the only way to avoid a collision was for him to pull up on the correct side of the road. Witness was expecting the driver of the car to pull out to bis correct side. He had plenty of room to pass the truck. LORRY DID NOT MOVE. Witness added that the photographs produced clearly show the position of both vehicles at the time of the collision. Witness’ lorry was not moved by the impact, and remained in the same position as when it was stopped. Witness helped to render assistance to the car occupants. The police later arrived on the scene and took charge. Witness was the holder of a motor driver’s license, and had driven for several years. The lorry had a warrant of fitness. The brakes were in excellent order and the lorry was good mechanically. POLICE EVIDENCE. Constable Hector Carseldine said that he was called by telephone to the scene. The lorry was on its correct side of the road, facing north. The car had struck the lorry with its right front wheel, just in front of the rear right wheel of the lorry. There were no skid marks of any kind on the road. The impact had been a severe one. The car driver had been killed and his two passengers injured. After assisting with deceased and the injured persons he took photographs (produced); they were taken before either vehicle was moved. Next day he was present when photographs were taken by Constable Gudsell. He compared, and explained, the photographs. He was with witness Trevarthen when the latter took measurements. Trevarthen’s plan and mesurements were correct. After the accident witness removed four quart bottles of beer from the car. The witness said his impression of the injured men soon after the accident was that Foley was considerably under the influence of liquor, and George was less so. Constable Hugh Shaw, of Kihikihi, generally corroborated the evidence of the previous witness. The body of Elliot was removed by him to Kihikihi.

The Coroner said the photographs were very clear, showing the position of the two vehicles. Snowden's evidence seemed to give the best approximation of the cause cf the collision.

Mr Empson added that he thought the corner should be marked as a very dangerous one. Apparently Elliot himself had been the only one to blame for the accident. Snowden had done everything possible, and was not in any way blameworthy. The verdict was “Accidental death,” with no blame attachable to the driver of the lorry.