KILLED IN ROAD SMASH

Taranaki Daily News, 28 April 1930, Page 8

KILLED IN ROAD SMASH

RACING CYCLISTS CLASH TWO PARTIES MEET HEAD ON. SECOND MAN SERIOUSLY HURT. By Telegraph.—Piess Association. Auckland, Last Night. A shocking cycle race accident occurred near Mangere post office yesterday afternoon, in which one amateur rider, Laurence Aldred, aged 19, of Epsom, was fatally injured. Aldred was a member of the Manukau Cycle Club. •A number of other riders were injured. The occasion was the opening of the road racing season for cash cyclists and amateurs. The managing body of the cash cyclists, the Auckland Cycle Club, had arranged a 19-mile handicap over three laps of tar-sealcd roadway, known in cycling circles as the Mangere circuit. The start was from Mangere bridge at 2.45. In the same vicinity the amateur cyclists were holding two races, a sj-mile event for juniors and an 11-mile event for seniors, to mark the opening of the amateur season. Racing along at a fast speed with their heads down, the cash cyclists did not notice a second batch of amateur cyclists coming from the opposite direction and also intent on the decision of their race. The road is narrow in the vicinity of Mangere post office, where the accident happened, and it was fur-, ther restricted by motor-cars parked on the side. With the leaders bunched, the men were not so strung out as they would have been on a wider road. With a fearful impact the front rank men of the opposite parties met, and the crash could be heard several chains away. Machines were thrown into the air and riders were hurled to the ground.

Several of the injured men were carried up to the schoolhouse near the post office. The accident happened 20 yards from' the finishing line of the amateur riders.

Of the injured riders, William Pratney, aged 19, a farm hand of . Manure wa, received grave head injuries'and is in a serious condition. A number of others had to receive treatment. Aldred was one of the most popular members of the club. He ranked as one of the first half-dozen riders in Auckland. The Auckland Cycle Club this morning decided to adopt another course for its road races.