DROVE WITHOUT CARE

Chronicle (Levin), 9 August 1948, Page 4

DROVE WITHOUT CARE

Motorist Who Knocked.Down . Pedestrian Fined

Arising out of an accident' oh ihe main highway near Manakau fecently, when- a pedeStrian Was kno'cked do'wn by a* car ahd sufiered:Se.vere head injuries, a charge jf drivmg without due care and attention was preferred by the police in the Levin Court on Friday against the driver of • the vehicle, Tou Murray, . farmer, of Manakau. Defendant, who pieaded not guiity, was represented by Mr. J. Todd. After a lengthy -heafihg in which a number of witnesses were cailed by both parties, the magistrate-, Mr. H. J. Thompson, S.M., found that defendant' had been guiity of not keeping a proper look otit and s entered a c'onviction accdrdingly, imposmg a fine of £1. Court costs of 34s and expenses for three of the witnesses, totailing £3 11s, were allowed against defendant. The accident had occurred half a mile north of the Manakau town- . ship on Saturday, June 19, said Sergeant W. Graihger, who prosecuted. The person -who was mjured,- John Winterburri, a railway empioyee, of O.taki, had been returning from . a football match accompanied by another man named Ropata, and was walking towards Manakau on the left-hand side bf the road. Producmg a >sketch of the locality and the scene of the accident, Constable A. T. Kelk said that when he arfive'd he interviewed the defendant, who stated that he had been travelling at between 15 and 20 hiiles per hour as there was milch ti-affic and some persohs on the road. He' had observed the two men walking on the road. He. Ihad sounded his hprn, but the man on the outside had seemed to jump to the right in front of his vehicle. He had pulled up immediately after the accident. Visibifity had been good at'the time. ' -Cailed by Sergeant Grainger, John Winterburn .described the events preceding the accident. He , admitted having had a drink or /two before settihg out in the morning and another prioi- to the match at Manakau, but had had no ■ iiquor . thereaf ter. At the end of the game he and some others had pbtained a lift in a lorry tp the , Waikawa Beach Road turn-off. He and Ropata had walked on to- | gether from that point for a short jdistance, but he cornd not recall jmuch after "that. ' . Examined by Sergeant Grainger, Withess said that h'e was walking on the edge of the bitumen and his companion' on the metal part skirting the road. -He had not been foliowing a "zig -zag". course as had 'been suggested by the defendant, hor had he "j'umpe'd*' in front of the car. Witness' companion, Parakaia Ropata, of Otaki, after substantiating the previous statements, added that he would consider that Winterburn was about two feet on ihe bitumen when struck. He did not consider that his companion 'was the worse for liquor. . "He might have had one or two, but he walked, alright, I was not with him When he was drinking during the ,day," he added. ! Two other persons who - were | walking on the road at the time of 'the accident, Huru Raika, of Otaki, and Tau Wehipeihana, of Ohau i West, were also cailed by the police. ! Cross-examined by Mr. Todd, wit.ness said that he considefed the 'car which had passed them and | subsequently hit Winterburn was on ithe right side of the road, but too jfar over to the left. He could not jsay whether Winterburn swerved iover to the right; as the car had J blocked his view/bht lie/had seen J the car swerve. He/would estimate ; 'its speed at betMfe&i^ and 30 m.p.h. ! . Wife of defendant and a passenger in the car, Mrs. Mary Murray Said that she saw the two men, who she considered were walkin'g near the centre of the road. There were two otheris walking on the opposite side and a car coming towaids their vehicle from the opposite direction. There was not much room, she said in reply to a question from Mr. Todd, and if the accident could have been avoided it would have meant going right over on to the wrong side of the road and hitting the other car. Winterburn seemed to be "playing the fool" and "zig zagging," she said. "He was not taking any notice of where he was going." Cailed by Mr. Todd, defendant said that Winterburn was not far away when he first saw him, and that he looked to be unsteady on his feet. Another car was coming : towards him and he was also looking at it. He had been driving for 17 years and had never before had an accident. Asked by Sergeant Grainger whether he was looking at the car and not at Winterburn, defendant replied that he had seen Winterburn. Another passenger in the vheicle, !Claude Sydney Tawharii, also described his impressions of the accident. stating that, though an experienced driver, he himself could not have avoided an accident , had he been driving. "The position is- really quite clear," said Mr. Thompson in his summing up of the case. "We have two men walking on one side and two men bn the other, and quite some traffic on the road. Defendant was driving at a reasonab'le speed 1 but it appears he did not notice the men until he was almost on them. I must conclude that he was not keeping a proper look out, otherwise he would have swerved earlier to avoid them." J 0 ■