ACCIDENTS CAUSED BY CARELESSNESS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 19013, 7 March 1930, Page 13

ACCIDENTS CAUSED BY CARELESSNESS.

CORONER COMMENTS AT | INQUEST ON YOUNG MAN. j “This man was only twenty-one years of age, and liis death is 9 loss to the country. This is one of a practically continuous line of accidents of this nature. They are caused by carelessness on the part of one person or the other. In this unfortunate case the accident was the result of the deceased’s own action.” The above statement was made by the Coroner (Mr E. D. Mosley, S.M.) at an inquest yesterday' into the death of Thomas Alexander Hardie, killed while riding a motor-cycle at Sockburn on December 21. Mr Mosley added: “ There were two contributing causes. One was that the motor-cycle on which deceased was riding with two pillionriders, was going at a very considerable speed, too fast, in fact, for safety*. The other was that deceased could not have had control of his machine with two pillion-riders on it. However safe or unsafe it might be carrying one pillion-rider, it certainly, in my* opinion, is not safe to carry t\vo, especially' when travelling at the rate at which this young man was going, lie might have caused the death of other people. The evidence of the two pillion-riders shows that one received severe injuries, and that both were so confused by the accident that they could not give an account of it. The driver of the motor-car with which the motor-cycle collided was very lucky to escape injury.” Harold Edward Wright, labourer, said that he was on a motor-cycle driven by* Hardie on that date. They left Christchurch about 6 p.m. He did not see the car that ran into Hardie approach. The accident occurred near Sockburn. Witness was dazed by the impact. He reckoned that the motorcycle was doing thirty-five miles an hour. He believed that that was a safe speed. He was not sure whether they were on their right side or not. Bert James White, labourer, Templeton, said that he also was pillion-riding on Hardie’s motor-cycle, in front of Wright. He could not say' what pace the motor-cycle was going at when the accident occurred, but they started out at a fair bat. They* were on the lefthand side. He did not see the car approaching, and did not hear the crash. Peter William Toomey, who was represented by' Mr Sargent, said that, he drove the car. His wife was with him. He saw* the motor-cycle seventy* or a hundred yards away. It was about the centre of the bitumen and would be on its wrong side. If it had kept straight on it would have passed the car without hitting it, but it appeared to wobble and to swerve. The handlebar of the motor-cycle struck the car. The motor-cycle’s speed was in the vicinity of forty' miles an hour. The car was doing fifteen miles. It stopped in five or six feet. The weight of the car was about 27cwt. The impact lifted the rear of the car four feet to the left. The sun was shining at the time. The Coroner returned a verdict that the accident was the result of the deceased having accidentally* run into the motor-car, and that no blame was attached to the driver of the car.