BUS OVERTURNS

Hokitika Guardian, 29 August 1927, Page 2

BUS OVERTURNS

ON RUNANGA ROAD. GREYAIOUTH, Aug. 29. A Chevrolet motor bus. owned by Messrs £5. and J .Low, capsized near Camp, on the road from Runanga to Greymonth. on Saturday afternoon, the vehicle being turned completely upside down. The bus was fully loaded at the time of the accident, there being about 18 passengers, most of whom were women, who with their children were proceeding to Greymoutli to do shopping.

The majority of the occupants received minor injuries,, such ns cuts and rfbrasions, caused by the flying pieces of glass, or resulting from their hurried exit through the broken windows, tho latter being partly obstructed by the heavy cushions n Inch were flung in all directions. The accident, which occurred shortly after 2 o’clock, took place alongside the railway line. It appears that the driver of the Ims (Mr J. Low) failed to notice the approach of the train proceeding to Greymoutli, and in an endeavour to avoid a collision he swerved the vehicle to the right hand ■side of the road, with tho result that liotli wheels on one side of the bus went into a depression, causing the ear to roll down the incline, and land with, tlie wheels ‘uppermost. The road turns very sharply at the railway crossing, and had the vehicle been turned the other way, a collision with the train would apparently have been almost inevitable, unless it had been turned almost at right angles, and even then tlie consequences would no dorfit have been more serious.

Tho most serious injury 'was sustained by Miss A. 1. Wylde, a middleaged lady of Runanga. who had a fractured collar bone, and suffered considerably from shock. Airs Purnell (Runanga) and Miss N. Median (Runanga) both received severe cuts and abrasions and suffered from shock. The three ladies mentioned were attended by Dr G. AV. Meade (Runanga) and are progressing favourably.

The bus is of the permanently enclosed type, and had the hood been of lighter construction, much more serious injuries must have been suffered by the occupants and it is possible that several of them would have been killed outright.

The body of the vehicle was badly smashed. The left portion ol the front, which forms part of th.e doorway, was h-ipped out and left suspended from the hood, while tl'.e glass panel on the other side of the doorway was jammed through the light woodwork of the hood, as were also mostfof the metal stays in the interior. The rear portion of a button on the inside of the hood, to wnicli nas attached an electric lamp, was torn from its place. Both sides of the bus were severely dented, while the large windows of plate glass were all completely shattered.