CAR SMASH

Waipukurau Press, Volume XXX, Issue 188, 17 August 1935, Page 5

CAR SMASH

MISS PEACOCK’S DEATH

CORONER’S INQUEST ENDS

The adjourned inquest into the death of Miss Hilda Ellen Peacock, who was killed in a motor smash at Hatuma on July 18, was concluded this morning by the District Cot oner (Mr. W. E. Yates, J.P.). A. F. Zachan, gardener, said that he was seated in the back seat of the car at the time of the accident. Mrs. W. B. Fisher was in the front seat with Miss Peacock, who was driving. They were going out to the lime works to get some stone, for Miss Peacock’s garden. The speed was very moderate and did not appeal to be more than 15 miles an hour. At times Miss Peacock’s driving appeared to be slightly erratic, in that the front wheels wobbled. Everything went all right until they reached the corner in the dip of the road near De La Haye’s place.

Witness felt the car slow down a little when going down the incline towards the corner. Just before the car reached the corner at the foot of the dip, he heard Miss Peacock say to Airs. Fisher, "That is only a short hill,’ ’and Mrs. Fisher replied "Yes.” Miss Peacock said, “I will put on a bit more speed to save changing, and witness felt the car speed up a little. The speed then would be about 20 miles an hour.

When on the bend the car seemed to strike the loose metal. Witness felt it swerve to the left at the reai end, while the front seemed to go to the right. From that moment the car seemed to leap across the road into the clay bank where it stopped with the nose buried well in the clay. Witness immediately got out of the car and pulled Mrs. Fisher out. She was bleeding on the forehead and was unconscious. He then got Miss Peacock out. She was also unconscious and was having difficulty in breathing. Miss Peacock died a minute or two after the accident. Mrs.

Fisher was unconscious for a short time and when she came to she d-d not know where she was.

Judging by the way the car shot across, the road and into the bank, witness considered that the deceased had placed her foot on the accelerator instead of the brake. She had not made any attempt to change gear. There was no other traffic about.

Constable D. H. Sutton said that when he reached the scene of ihe accident he found that the car had its nose driven into the clay bank. He traced back the marks of the car f.,r 84 feet. The marks were wide as if the car had been on a swerving movement. They showed up plainly on the bend as if speed had been applied at that point and there was no shingle graded up at this point. There was loose metal on the road, but it was not thick. The car was badly damaged in front, the steering wheel being broken from the column. The road at this particular spot had a metalled surface 22 feet wide, while from the edge of the metal to the clay bank which the car had run into there was 8 feet 6 inches of clay.

Dr C. Raymond said that when he arrived at the scene of the accident he found Aliss Peacock lying by the side of the road, dead. Airs Fisher was lying on the bank suffering from the effects of concussion and abrasions.

Witness considered that Aliss Peacock died a minute or so after the accident, and that death was due to injury to her heart from broken ribs which were forced into the

body. He had noticed that the seats in the car were sliding seats, and that these were pushed forward toward the dash-board. This would cause Aliss Peacock to come into contact with the steering column when the steering wheel snapped. The Coroner said that he had visited the scene of the accident. The The position of the car on the road led him to believe that the car had gone into a side skid and that the driver had probably put her foot on the accelerator instead of the brake.

He returned a verdict that deceased met her death as the result of the injuries outlined in the medical evidence and sustained accidentally when the motor car she was driving skidded when about to negotiate a bend on the road.