SAW COMPANION LYING ON ROAD.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 63, 16 March 1931, Page 8

SAW COMPANION LYING ON ROAD.

INQUEST INTO DEATH OF MECHANIC CONTINUED.

Details of the accident in Cranmer Square, in which . Chetwyn James O’Connor, a P. and T. mechanic, of Wembley Street, Sydenham, was fatally injured, were given at the inquest continued this morning by Mr E. D. Mosley, Coroner. Sergeant Leckie represented the police. Trevor Davies Evans, motor mechanic employed by the P. and T. Department at Christchurch, residing at 47, Andover Street, said that about 12.55 p.m. on March 12 O’Connor and witness left the P. and T. garage to go for a ride round the block on their motorcycles. They travelled west along Kilmore Street, both in low gear. On passing the north-west corner of Cranmor Square witness was ridipg about a cycle length in front and to the right of O’Connor. They were doing about 25 miles an hour. Witness turned to look at O’Connor and saw his motorcycle wobbling. A moment later he looked back again and saw O’Connor on the ground. Witness saw that O’Connor was badly* hurt and unconscious. O'Connor was treated by a doctor and sent to hospital. Testing Gears. “Kilmore Street at that spot is not too smooth,” said witness. They were testing out their low gears. To the Coroner: Twenty-five miles an hour was not a high speed in low gear. They were not going to the terrace to have a race. To the sergeant, witness said that O’Connor wore glasses, which were rather loose. It was possible that they had slipped and that O’Connor’s movement to stop them falling had caused the cycle to wobble. The cycle had skidded for about 20 feet. There were no stones or potholes in the vicinity. Arthur Moxon Bray, foreman mechanic at the P. and T. garage, Kilmore Street, Christchurch, gave corroborative evidence. He had seen the accident from the garage. It was impossible for the two machines to have touched. Witness noticed O’Connor’s machine wobble just prior to the accident If O’Connor had suddenly opened his throttle, when in low gear, it might have caused the machine to wobble. Moderate Speed. Stephen Sullivan, a labourer, employed by the City Council, said that he was working in Kilmore Street near where the accident occurred. Two motor-cycles passed him doing a moder.ate speed. Just past him the motorcyclists increased their speed, and a

moment witness saw one of the machines wobble and its rider was thrown forward. The road was a bad one, but was quite good at the spot where'the accident happened. The Coroner returned an open verdict that Cheslyn James O’Connor died on March 13, his death being due to injuries received when he fell off his motor-cycle while riding along Kilmore Street in low gear. “It is one of those unaccountable accidents,” said the Coroner.