MOTORS COLLIDE.

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 18412, 19 June 1925, Page 6

MOTORS COLLIDE.

CLAIM FOR DAMAGES. In the Supreme Court yesterday, before his Honour Mr Justi.v MacGreior and. a jury of twelve, a series of claims for damages wore heard, arising; iron-, a molir collision on n country road. The plaintiffs were Martha Jane Hill, Hazel Uashwood Sim, Wilfred Joseph Sim. barrister and solicitor, and Williara Smith Mac Gibbon. public sccountan'. The defendants were Tracy Couch end Charles David Gough. The total claims amounted to .'.150S 7s l'">d, Fnd the individual claims wore an Uilh.-.vs: Mrs Hill, special damages, i'.la ;'•«, general um.ifcs i'lL'.'iO; Mrs Sim. general damages -'400: W. J. Sini. spfeiai damages i'l'JU l;!s; W. S. MacGibbnn, special damages. i'lo3 0s 10.1. Mr A. T. Donnelly, with him Mr ■'". S. Thomas, appeared for the plaintiffs. Mr M. J. (fresson fur Tracy Gough, and Mr JI. J. Upham for C. I'. Gonch.

The collision occurred on November J-Mil last ou tin.- J.e-'s Valley road, near Ashley Gorge. Tu their slatement of claim iliu plaintiffs set out that tliey were in MacGibbon's car. At a dangerous corner it met n car owned by C. I>. Gough and driven by Tracy Gough, as the servant or agent of ('. D. .Cough. The Coughs' car was driven -o negligently down hill that it collided with Mac Gibbon's car, and all the plaintiffs were injured. Couch drove at an excessive speed, without warning-, ami without having his ear under proper control, and was on his wrong side. Mrs Hill had been permanently incapacitated from .any form of activity. Mrs Sim was confined to her bed for a month :>nd had to receive massage, and probably would have to undergo special surgical treatment to her noso and cheek. Mr Sim had been, pat to expense for nursing, hospital, and medical attendance.

The defence was a denial of negligence and excessive speed and of tho other allocations in the-.. statement of claim. In addit-on, it was alleged that Tracy (tough was properly, carefully, and reasonably using the road, and that MacGibbnn was negligent as ho drove round a corner on a dangerous part of the road at an excessive speed, without warning and without having his car under proper control.

Mr Donnelly said that the accident happened about 4.30 p.m. Plaintiffs' party had gone out to ths Ashley Gorge 'intending to go on to Lees- -Valley road. The accident occurred about five miles up that road, at a. rounded corner. The road was cut out of the Hillside, .with a'face on one side and a drop of Hundreds of feet on the other side. Two cars could pass easily at the corner. Mac Gibbon's car weighed about 21owt. Gough'.s weighed about i'.ocwt. Mac Gibbon drove slowly up ihe Hill on the second gear. He approached tho. corner at about eight ).uiles an hour. Ho saw the other car coming down the hill. The collision ■ was head-on. MacGibbon-'s windscreen was shivered i.nd He was. cut on the right baud. Mrs Sim was severely cut on the face. Mr Sim. Mrs Sim and Mrs Hill werj thrown forward, striking the strut of the Hood: nil of them were out and bruised. Mac Gibbon's car was driven down hill. Mr Sim caught up his child and got. out of the car while it was moving., Mrs Mini also got out before il ittoppcdC Tt was claimed that :'n tho circumstances Gough should have exercised more care. Ho. was on the wrong side, gavo r.o warning, and did nit have His car under proper control. MiicGibbon, on tho other band, as soon as he saw the other car, de-clutched his own car and stopped. Gough had admitted that ho preferred a head-on collision to the risk of going over the side. Mrs Hill and Mrs Sim were substantially injured. Mrs Sim, n young woman, was severely cut on the check, Her nose was injured, and she had been disfigured. ])r,' Burnett, of Oxford, performed n wonderful surgical feafc • in treating Mrs Sim's injuries, but. she still had a scar on the face, and Her nose, was still injured. The sum of £4OO was claimed for disfigurement of a pretty young woman. .William Smith Mac Gibbon, public accountant, of'Clirislchurch, said that on Xovem'ber 14th Ho was driving in Lees Valley. With him were Mr, Mrs, and Mastnr Sim, Mrs Hill, and a Miss Brotklohurst, They came to a sharp bend in tho road and he sounded His Horn. The visibility was exceptionally good, and. He was travelling at from nine to ten miles an hour on second gear. He- saw Giough[s car comine round a corner, and immediately do-clutched and used the footbrako. When He saw that u collision was inevitable he- used--the Hand-brak**' also. .Cough's'.car continued down the. hill, and struck Mac Gibbon's car between the ..mudguards; wh'i,c]i wore .slightly scratched-. After the. impact, witness's car was driven':about 25 feet downhill. Tracy Gough and .Witness stepped out. of the cars, and witness said;: "Gough, what aro you doing on that bide of tho. road,-wlte.n there is available space on ypur right side?" Gough replied: ".t saw that a collision Had to take place, and rather than go ou,the-outside, I-took-you Head; on." " ■-..''.

. Mr Thomas: When did you examine the spot ?—On the following Sunday. •What did you flu'd?—"A largo collection of small pieces of glass in the water channel at the foot of" tho bank." Witness went on to detail,- the finding of- pieces, of the .wind-screen elsewhere on the road and; : dowh. the hill. There wero also very visible blood marks , down the faco of, the bank. .The width of the road at tho place of. the impact was' not less than 16 or 17 ' feet. That was tho area . of tho driving surface. The dumb-irons on Gough's car were locked under the radiator .of witness's-car. Shortly, after the accident Mr Hurdley's car came down the hill and was able to pass both cars in the road. Witness's car was brand new, and had just done 250 miles.'. He made no claim for his injuries, but. for damages to ;.his car. '•'"''■. ' To Mr Gresson: Witness had been n motorist for over seven years. . The- Lees Valley road, ho considered was quite a safo one. There wero somo corners on the , Oxford side before tho scene of the accident round Which, it would not be safe to travel atmore than 10 miles an hour. Travelling from 10 to 12 miles an hour up hill in socond geai\' witness said, ho could pull up his car in a yard and a-half. Gough's car r.amo on without slackening speed at nil. Wtiness's car had stopped when tho impact took place. . When ho saw Gough's car coming he sat ajid waited for the bump. Air Gresson: Have you paid any dam-af-es to Mr" .Sim?— Itealising that Mr Sim had-been, put to heavy medical expenses, I went to him. and asked him. if I could 'assist him temporarily to pay those . expenses. ' ~ '. How much have you advanced to Mr Sim! —i'GO. ';,,' "Was that not because you realised that the accident was your fault.' —Emphatically no. " ■' , To Mr Thomas: Tho payment was made to Mr Sim--in December. It was simply, a question of assistance. Hazel Dashwood Sim, wife of the plaintiff, said that she was in the front seat en the outside, at tho time of tho accident. Mr MacGibb'cn was travelling very slowly, and was blowing the horn all the time. Witness Tcmembcrcd MaeGibbon blowing the horn at tho place of the accident. Witness was struck in tho face by the glass from tho wind-screen, and' badly cut. Witness was taken to the hospital at Oxford and was there for a fortnight. Witness was in bed a month after sho was discharged iron: tho hospital. Witness's mother, Mrs Hill was also in hospital at Oxford for a fortnight. Mrs, Hill could walk up and down the Clifton Hill, where witness lived before the -accident. She could not now. When witness got out of tho car she said to Gough: "You fool, you've killed me. You did not blow your horn..' I thought I was' going to bleed to death, added witness to Mr Donncily. _' Wilfred J. Sim, solicitor, Ohnstnhurch, said, in reply to Mr Thomas, that he was sittin" in tho back of the car. MaeGibbon was travelling at « very careful speed, and was blowiig the horn persistently all along the road. He was well on his proper side of the road. Tho first he saw of Gough s car was when it was bearing down on them. He wondered why Gough did not stop As soon as tho situation was created Mac Gibbon stopped. Witness was thrown forward and hit the support of the hood -with his ri»ht eve. His eyebrow wus cut oft. D H-is Honour (with a smile): Is the eyebrow an exhibit? ~,.,, , , • Witness continued • that the shock was a tremendous one. Ho caught the small boy who was also thrown forward, ar.d. jumped out of th" car. Witness was afterwards taken to the hospital and operated upon. To Mr Gresson: He did not make any claim on MaeGibbon. He was embarrassed with cash at the time, the expenses being vcrv heavv. MaeGibbon offered assistance and' he promised to pay it back at the earliest possible moment. Bid you not'claim Z':j from.-Gough! definitely and absolutely. Did vou sav to Gough that the affair was « pure' accident / —Xo, because 1 considered that the accident was a scandal. They deliberated charged into us. They seemed .•unsriencc-strickcn about it and their -whole attitude was one of guilt. ; His Honour: Their conscience seems to have hardened up since. Mr Sim. Frederick James Tattle, manager of tho Dominion Motors, said it was apparent that the collision had been almost head tn.__Depreciation- to the.- car was at least *'?>. J. 11. Midgeley, foreman at the Dominica' Motors, gave' particulars of the injuries to MafGibl.-on's car. \uMi:i Hw(l, taxi-driver, gave evidence of Go"ii"ii telling him that h>i would, rather hit tho other car than swerve out. The conver-s.-jtion took place about three days after the accident. . , ... Dr W H. Simpson gave evidence of tho condition'of Mrs Hill and Mr and Mrs Sim as a result of the accident. He stated that Mrs Sim was unrecognisable when ho was calicd to see her at the Oxford Hospital. The jeconstructive word done by Dr. burnett to the face in Mrs Sim's 'ca-c was particu.-, larlv well dore. He had visited tho scene of the accident rnd would not hn.-.itatt: to drive a car round outside at the place where the collision occurred. He had driven a' car for *-':> vcars in all parts of the world, and had done'about 260,000 miles. Dr. I'. S. Foster detailed the injuries suffered' by Mrs Sim. Dr. .1. W. Crawshaw also gave evidence. Jovce Brocklehurst, who was a passenger in. Mac Gibbon's car, corroborated tho evidence of Mrs Sim. She added that MaeGibbon blew his horn near the corner in quesThis closed the case for the plaintiffs. Case for tho Defence. In opening for the defence, Mr Gresson j said the evidence for tho plaintiff would be contradicted. It would be admitted that ' Gough was in the middle of the road, but

there was only one track.. T:ie only cours; when on that road . was ■ to hug tho cliff. Absolute control was necessary iiv handling a-car .so that it could. 1 -bo stopped msUiilarieously when turning the corner. The question-with Tracy-Gough was whether lie should- keep to., the.- middle .of tho road or risk-his car, ; containing his-mother, father, and three children, going, over the- edge. A sood deal of the .evidence ot tho plft«>tiff's witnesses would be contradicted by the wheel-marks, which were silent evidence slid could not he mistaken. Tracv Thomas Gough, boot retailer, ot Christc'hurch, said he was an. experienced driver. He was doinjr abcut 10 miles an hour on the. Lees A'alley road, and turned off his ignition switch at the corner in question. MaeGibbon drove straight into hroi. but the impact, was not a severe ono. as his passengers were not thrown about,. Hi* ear did not dvivo Mac Gibbon's ear, downhill -^ •Atr this'stage the Conrfc adjourned until J0.15 ihismcrning. . ,