FIRE-ENGINE SMASH.

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 18422, 1 July 1925, Page 6

FIRE-ENGINE SMASH.

INQUEST ON VICTIM. CORONER'S VERDICT. '"'[ cm not going to form any opinion on the exact point of whether any blame is attachable to anyone. , There may have been some error" of judgment on the part of the driver of the engine or on the part of Cade, or on the part of both; but I dmi't think it amounts to, more than that/' The Coroner, Mr 11. Y. Widdowson, made, those remarks at the inquest, held yesterday, on the body of Station-oflicer. Joshua Henry Xoblett, who was killed in a collision between a fire-engine and a motor-car at the corner of Oxford terrace and Madras street on June 151 h. Senior-Sergeant F. Lewin conducted the enquiry for the police, Mr G. Harper represented the Fire Board, and Mr F. AV. Johnston appeared for J. B. Cade, the driver of the motor-car. • The Coroner remarked that the inquest was to be an enquiry into the, circumstances of tho man's death, and not an action to assess damages, bo that .■unnecessary detail might be omitted. Engine Driver's Evidence. William Low, chief motor mechanic, Central Fire Station, naid that at 6.4<i p.m. on Juno loth he received a-call to the corner of Clyde street and Madras street. He drove out a chemical engine, and as ho was approaching, Oxford terrace he saw a motor-car travelling along Oxford terrace towards (own, but he considered ho had time to pass it.. When the engine was on tho intersection the. car crashed into it. All the weight of the engine seemed to be thrown on to the near front wheel. "Tho engine seemed to poise in the air," said.witness, "and when I saw that it was going over I threw myself back. .When I got up I -went round tho engine and rendered all tho assistance I could. I assisted to put Station-officer Noblctt in tho ambulance." To the Senior-Sergeant: Tho motorcar seemed to be pulling up when I was at the commencement of the intersection.

The Coroner: Could you give an estimate of tins speed of the motor-car?— It eecmod to be going fairly fast.^ What rate, were you going at?—At eighteen miles per hour. Witness stated that it was a, dark, drizzling night, and tho road , was greasy.. • ■ ■ . Tho Coroner: Where was tho deeoasod standing?—Ho was on the running board on the near sido of the front seat. Ho was probably holding on to the baelc of tho scat. ■ What bceamo of the . motor-ear T When I looked up it was in;\thc nriddlo of the road facing the' fircrengine, Witness said he 'did not feel tho engine hit, the buttress of the bridgo. opinion tho engine toppled oyer because the. front axle bent when the weight was thrown on to the near side front wheel. Before tho accident ho had no time to put on tho brakes. The engine did not skid at all. The motorear struck the engine at just about the centre. There: were seven men on the engine, and they were all.more or less injured. . . .. , The Coroner: That engine w fairly high off the ground, isn't it?—lqs. It has a fairly .high-chassis. . .'• Did .you consider "that your engmo was top-heavy?—Xo. I think it was well-balanced. . To tho Senior-Sergeant: Ho had two headlights, 'and a. tail light on tho engine. Its horse-power was. li.J R.A.C. rating, and its maximum speed fulls- manned, was £5 m.p.h. . The Coroner: If anyone says they did not hear' tho : siren, what would \ou-say?—l should say they wcro slightly deaf. . . . Are tho sirens on all the engines the same:?—Tho' one on that engine was slightly smaller than the others. To Mr Johnston: Ou tho night of the accident the siren seemed to bo sounding as loud as it.■usually did. ■ Tho engine, when it was fully, manned had never done more, than 25 miles per hour since it had been at the station.

• Thomas Bowman Eobb, .foreman at the station, said that lie was working tho siren on the engine, and ho blew it at every crossing. As soon as he got in tho lino of Oxford terrace ho notioed tho lights of a car approaching from the east. Witness was seated on the left-hand side of the driver. The engine was travelling at about 18 miles per hour, and witness thought it had ample time to get across. Witness looked to see that all was clear hi front, and then he felt the impact. The engine was then about halfway across.tho road, on the' left-side of the road, but near-the .crown*. .''The next I kuew I picked myself, off the ground, >' said witness, "and I saw the deceased lying-near the,engine." In his opinion, tho car must have gone fairly fast to "have reached the engine. To Mr Harper: The engine had answered practically .every call, and it was almost a new one. The headlights threw beams about 18 feet in length. To Mr Johnston: The approaching car had lights bigger than those of tho engine. The highest speed tho engine had done was 22 miles per hour.

Robert Edward Downing, fireman, who was on the right; side near fho rear wheel of tho engine, said he did not think there was any danjj-ir, when ho saw the headlights of tho car. When the engine was halfway ever the street tho car came up at a good pace, and crashed into it. Witness remembered headlights being in his face, aiid then lie jumped clear, and finished up against the bridge. Zv'oblett was taken out from under the machine. To the Senior-Sergeant: The fireengine was on the intersection first by a good many yards. When witness first saw the ear it was 30 or 40 yards back in tho centre of tho road. Whou it was twelve yards off it was on tho wrong side of the road. Superintendent C. C. Warner said ho received a message at 6.52 Laat there had been an accident, and no turned out with No. G motor. The engine was over on its side, and there was a heap of debris. The Coroner: You would almost think from the look of the engine that it had struck, a lorry, and not a'motor-ear, wouldn't you?—Ycs ; sir. Eye-Witnesses. Ernest Albert Dobbie, journalist, who was walking along Oxford terrace towards the City, said he heard tho fire-engine when it was between Armagh street and Chester street. It seemed to bo going very fast, and the siren was sounding. The motor-car was coming down Oxford terrace, and it was between tho Sunday school and the church, or about 30 yards from the corner. The car was on its. correct side of the road, and the engine was on the crown. Just before the accident tho car was pulling up, but .theengine had not slackened. Immediately after the impact tho engine veered to the left, and before it reached the buttress of the bridge it turned over on its loft side, the top gear striking tho parapet.' To Mr Johnston: He had hcaTd tha siren sounding louder than on the night of tho accident. The engine was easily double the distance that the

car was away from'the intersection when -witness first saw theui. Mildred Martha Bull, or' £."> Ciissu'd street. Mcrivale, another eye-witness, who was in Chester street, considered that the car was not travelling as fast as the engine. The engine "was not going as fast as witness had seen fireengine's travel.' The car struck the engine in the middle,, and the engine went to the left. Myrom Hannah Wilson, of -200 Cambridge terrace, who saw the- n'oideut. said the ear and the engine were gotns; at about tho same and "that neither vehicle slacker..'! speed. After the impact, the engine wa> dashed ever and iho car swop..! away. When she first, saw the wliieks. ih* eu"iue was hallway between Armagh street and Chester stivet. and i!'.e°car was neir Kilniore s'reei. William Patrick .Sweeney, carpenter, of ~i2 Mcdwav stre.u, uiio'wns walking along Oxford terrace. sud The car was 2-i yards hack from ihe intersect-on when he first saw it. Ho thought the oar would <dad<on speed. but""it did not. Tho engine readied the intersection first. The car seemed to leap rir/ht into the online, striking it j"st behind tho driver's seal, and - the ongino was lifted off its offside, wheels. Car Driver's Evidence. John Benjamin Cade, salesman, of Christclmrch, the driver of the motorcar, said he was travelling east- to west along Oxford terrace. De-cribinc tho accident, ho said: '-J came alone Oxford terrace on the left Imnd side of tho road, and mv greatest speed from the ftast holt to the point of impact would not be more than 18 miles, per hour. I stowed down at tho Barhadoes street crossing to 10 mi'cs per hour, and came gently round the tu-n----ing on to tho river, and proceeded on the left-hand'side of the To»d to Madras, street. I slowed down to 10 or 12 miles .per hour over the street crossing. 1 looked to tho left and to the right, and I did not see the fire-eneine or anv other t r «fho. If I had heard the siren I would have stopped. I had two headlights and two side-lights on. I saw nothing until the fire-engine was rieht .'""'osa me. It took mo with a scraping blow and turned mo round towards the church. Tlie impression it left on me. was that the engine was describing a. bend to the risht. I was continuing straight down the terrace. T imnvdiately got out of the car and went to tho man who was calling out.., I rendered all the assistance I could, and I rang up for tho ambulance and doctors.

Witness slated that "lie li".d been driving cars for 14 years, and he had been li"pnsed in Chr'st"hnrch c inco 1917. His average monthly mileage was 2000, and he kid never had an accident before. .It was no straighten collision: the. engine had struck him a brushing Mow. *" His wind-screen was perfectly clear. Ho had sounded tV.o horn n.t + he crossing. Herbert Macintosh. Citv Motor Inspector, said that, after v ; <nvin>? the car. be was of the opinion that if t l !© engine was on the sWt, the car vrns going straight,' and vice, versa. Ca r7 o. in his opinion, was a good, careful driVov. WH'ia"i "Dan "Rerry. rnot<->r mechonic. described the to the car. and sai f ' fhi't the ri>ht. eirlo of tli" car had oyidcntij'* lv=en rrst..- Witness considered, that Gado was a good, careful driver. Harry >O. frmpson, '"bu;ildin«r contractor, wlmse house faces JKi'movo street, said ho heard n. noise. wWJi he did lyt know was a siren until after tho accident. It wns not the usual loud screeching of a fire engine. Coroner's Verdict. # The Coroner said the accident had boon tho first that had happened io tho Chnstchurch Fire Brigade, and ho sincerely boned that there, would, ;n ever ho a similar, .one'. From the'evidence, it, apneared that when the en--! £*inb was between Armagh street and Chester street, the car was about 25 yards from 'the corner, or the engine was twice as far away as tho car. It would seem that the engine was travelling nt twice the speed ;cf the car, ■ and therefore if its speed, n.<s stated, was IS miles jw ho\ir, C'ndo's sneed would be about 9 miles per how. That came near ,'to Cade's own estimate of 10 miles per hour. He could' find no fault in tho speed of the engine, and the unfortunate thing was that Cade, had not heard the siren. He had inspected the car and the engine, [and both from bis own observation ■ 'and from the evidence, it appeared | that there had not been a head-on collision. A collision occurred between the right-hand corner of the- car and | tho engine, but which struck the other he did not know. The engine was fairly high, it had seven men on j it, and it was travelling at 18-.miles ! per .hour on a greasy road, .so that it was quite probable that very little .force would eanso the mishap to' occur. Ho considered that perhaps, for a. stormy night, tho siren on the engine was not quite Joud enough, but "the Superintendent had stated it was the loudest that could he got. He was glad to bear Cade say that if he/had 1 heard the siren be would have stopped. T-he verdict wmdd bo that NeMott died from shock following cerebral injuries, due to his being crushed under a fire engine which capsized as a result of a collision between the engine and a I motor-car driven by Cade.