DAMAGES CLAIM

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31087, 16 June 1966, Page 6

DAMAGES CLAIM

Repairs To Rail-Car

Mr J. D. Kinder, S.M, reserved his decision yesterday on a claim for £217 0s 2d damages, brought in the Magistrate’s Court by the At-torney-General on behalf of New Zealand Railways gainst Bowmans, Ltd., engineers. The action arose from a collision betwen a rail-car and a mobile crane on August 24 at the Riccarton road level crossing.

Mr N. W. Williamson, for the piainitiff, said the Railways Department was claiming damages as the costs of repairs to the rail-car. Ronald Sinclair, the driver of the rail-car, said that he was approaching the crossing about 40 m.p Jl and when he wag about 80 yards from the crossing he saw the crane, winch was travelling with a

counter-weight extended in front of it and the jib trailing behind. It stopped across the white line. He said that he thought there was enough room for the rail-car to pass. The crane moved forward another two feet, and he applied the rad-car’s emergency brakes. The driver of the crane then jumped dear. The crane’s counterweight scraped along the side of the rail-car. Cedi Henry Denovan, the crane driver, said that be was about 12 yards from the track and travelling about 20 mp.h. when the red warning light started flashing. He said that be applied the brakes, but when he stopped it looked to bunas if the driver’s seat was beneath the dropping barrier arm. He put the vehicle into neutral gear and put on the hand brake. The crane did not move forward again. The barrier arm settled just behind his eeat as he jumped dear, he said. Mr R. L. Kerr, appearing for the defendant, said the coUHnn was caused by the failure of the rail-car driver to apply the emergency brakes as soon as he saw that the crane was over the white line and his attempt to continue tn pass the crane. The crane driver had not been negligent and had stopped as soon as the ted warning light became activated, Im soft.