OLD MAN STRUCK BY CAR

Taranaki Daily News, 2 October 1929, Page 12

OLD MAN STRUCK BY CAR

DEATH RESULT OF SHOCK CORONER’S VERDICT AT INQUEST. FATALITY IN NEW PLYMOUTH. The cause if death result ing from injuries received through, being, knocked down by a motor-ear by James Bruce Fitzherbert, was the verdict of the coroner, Mr. R. AV. Tate, S.M., at the adjourned inquiry into the circumstances of the death on Wednesday last of John Emison Gilby, a retired Government servant aged 83, residing at 190 Devon Street West. Senior-Sergeant McCrorie conducted the proceedings, Mr. A. A. Bennett appearing for the driver of the car and Mr. R. J. Brokenshire for the widow and relatives. Susan Gilby, widow of Gilby, said she and her husband left home at about 7 o’clock to go to the pictures. At the corner of Devon and Mt. Edgecombe streets Gilby said they had better walk on the other side. She saw a car opposite Julian’s coming from the post office. She said they had better wait but he said there was plenty of time to cross. Her husband’ started to cross and she remained on the footpath. She could not see him as the car passed and thought at the time he had reached the other footpath. The car pulled up and she saw Gilby had been knocked down. She found him lying on the road.’ The car had not gone much further on. Witness went inside the house, prepared a bed and sent for Dr. 'Thompson. ’ She spoke to the driver of the car but could not remember his saying anything ae just then Dr. Thompson arrived.She did not see her husband crossing the road after he had passed the tramr line, Mrs. Gilby continued. There was a slight drizzle of rain at the time and the visibility was not good. Neither Gilby’s eyesight nor hearing was good but he. could well for a man of. his age. She could not estimate the speed of the car and did not hear any horn sounded. Her husband was carrying an umbrella and a small rug at the time. To Mr. Bennett the witness said Gilby was not using the umbrella. He. seldom used glasses out of doors and did not have them on that night.. She . did not think the lights of the car dazzled her and caused her to lose sight of her husband, said the witness to Mr. Brokenshire.' . , ' EVIDENCE OF DOCTOR. Gilby was within four feet of the kerb when he saw him, said Dr.*G. H. Thomson, and about 25 yards from the corner. His injuries consisted of cuts on the temples, flesh wounds oh the arms and hands and fractures of the right arm and elbow, eight ribs and both legs. The cause of death was shock due to injury. It depended entirely upon the weight of a car whether when going at 15 miles per hour it would cause such injuries. He said to the driver that he knew Gilby, who would not be able to save himself and the driver should not take things too hard. He thought that on such a night one would not be able to see anyone more than 100 yards. To Mr. Bennett Dr. Thomson said he considered Gilby to be a poor walker, who rarely placed one foot more than six inches ahead of the other and was inclined to totter. The driver of car, James Bruce Fitzherbert, said the lights of his < .r were on and the brakes were in good order. He was travelling at about 15 to 20 miles per hour approaching the intersection and slackened to 15 miles per hour to cross the intersection. He did not see Cilby on . the road and the first he saw of him was when he hit him; The car travelled about 36 feet from the spot where it hit Gilby, who was lying’ about six feet beind te car when it stopped. The car had a windscreen wiper which was working at the time. . The only reason he could give for not seeing Gilby sooner was that the street light was very bad. He made a practice of sounding the ..horn approaching an intersection but was unable to say definitely whether he had done so that time. He could not say in what distance the ear should pull up if travelling from 15 to 20 miles pei’ hour. On the night he could not see a person more than five or six yards ahead at the . corner. The senior-sergeant: Why were you travelling at that speed under such con : ditions? ~ There is a regulation saying you should not travel at a speed which will not allow you to pull, up within half the distance you can see. An objection that it would be ridiculous to enforce the regulation on such a night was made by Mr. Bennett. To questions Fitzherbert said the wet, shining road surface was a great difficulty for a driver to contend with. He used only the foot brake and not the hand brake.' He was nearer the left hand kerb than to the tram-lines and Gilby was struck by the centre of the car. Constable Palmer described how he was called to the scene of the accident. Fitzherbert told him he had not seen Gilby until he hit him on account of the rain and the bad street light. He found white wheel marks on the left side of the road extending just over 36 feet to where, the car had stopped. The distance to the gutter was 7ft. 6in. and from the wheel mark to the light was just over 50 feet. There were no skid marks on the road. Witness corroborated the evidence of the other witnesses regarding the weather conditions. There was a dent about an inch and a half deep on the radiator band and the dumb iron running between the lights was bent, added the constable.