NO LIABILITY

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 10, Issue 100, 28 February 1947, Page 5

NO LIABILITY

CLAIM NOT RECOGNISED SEQUEL TO ACCIDENT In a claim against the Whakatane County Council, Mr P. G. Hammond referred on Tuesday by letter to an accident which occurred last September on the Ohope Hill. He stated that his car was covered by the N.I.M.U. Insurance Office and the franchise of £2 would have to be paid by the writer. The position was the damage was caused by a Whakatane County Council truck backing out from the water table on the Ohope Road. There was no question that the accident was due to negligence on the part of the truck driver. Furthermore there were no signs on the road to denote road work was in progress and it was only after the accident that signs were erected. It was understood that the County Council insurance was held in the County Office and he would be glad to hear further in this connection. The report of the truck driver concerned read that the lorry on the day of the accident was engaged in carting spoil from Cobbe’s quarry to the bottom of the Ohope Road for filling of washouts. Before tipping the load it was necessary to turn the lorry around, with the nose uphill. With a load of spoil ( he was proceeding down to the turning point which is a corner near the bottom of the Ohope Hill, just above the dam. The practice was to turn the nose of the lorry into the bank and across the road, then back out and proceed uphill towards the tiphead. While backing out across the road the motor stalled, the driver then ran forward again, started the motor, and was halfway across the road when he heard the crash. A car had tried to pass on the wrong side and tore a strip of metal-work off its rear door. The driver of the car said he had seen the lorry run forward to the bank the second time and presumed that the driver was giving room to pass. At no time was the truck driver aware of a car on the road and gave no signal to pass just prior to the accident, nor did he hear any warning of a car wishing, to pass. A warning notice was placed downhill from the turning point on the corner, and a man at the tiphead uphill. It was very difficult to see any traffic with the nose of the lorry turned to the bank, so the driver depended on these two signs to warn traffic while turning. It was decided that the claim be not recognised.