CLAIM FOR DAMAGES.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXV, Issue 4662, 15 February 1924, Page 2

CLAIM FOR DAMAGES.

ACCIDENT ON PUKE ROAD. BOROUGH COUNCIL SUED. \t the Magistrate’s Court at Paeroa on Tuesday, before Br J. G. L. Hew it ~ Norman Burke, farmer, of Ngatea (Mr O’Neill), claimed from i.he Paeroa Borough Council (Mr J. L. Hanna) thb sum of £25 as special damages fo. an accident alleged to have been caused by a horse .shying and precipitating the occupants of the vehicle into a drain, which, it was alleged, had been left open in negligence by borough officials when carrying out drainage operations on* Puke The accident happened on November 6 } 29 last, and it was claimed that the horse, gig* harness, and the clothing of the occupants of the gig, had been damaged to the full amount claimed. R. F. Gibbons, farmer, Ngatea, stated that he was returning home from Paeroa on the day in question when he found that plaintiff had met with an accident in one of the drains on - Puke Road. His own horse had shied ' at the excavation works earlier in the day. The drain was unprotected, and was not easily seen until close up to it. In answer to Mr Hanna witness said that the drain was at right angles to the road, and the operations were obsecured to a certain extent by willows JQ growing on the roadside. He did not ~ see the accident occur. Had a rail or some protective measures been put up the accident would most likely have been averted. Walter Joseph Burton, farmer, Netherton, stated that plaintiff had passed him on the day in question.,He had seen the accident, and in his opinion the horse had shied at the spoil from the drain which was on the roadside. ' .. in answer to Mr Hanna witness said he could not suggest where else the spoil .night have been put. He considered that the horse was capably handled. The plaintiff stated that he *as driving out to Ngatea on the afternoon of November 29 last, and was travelling at about eight miles an hour, and | had eased up prior to reaching the scene of the drainage operations, as T he had noticed the place as he was driving to Paeroa earlier in the day. The gig and horse were precipitated in the drain, which was about nine feet across.’ The gig was seriously damaged, and also the harness. The mare was cut and bruised, but not seriously hurt. Plaintiff’s wife was slightly bruised, and the clothing of both plaintiff and his wife was badly damaged. The horse was perfectly quiet, and had been driven by a lady. In reply to the Bench plaintiff stated that the workmen were working about 18 yards away from the scene of the accident, and he was of the opinion that a barricade of some kind ' 'should have been erected. |KMr Hanna applied for a nonsuit on the grounds that the statement of claim could not stand because the ae—cident had not actually occurred with- ’ in the boundaries of the borough. The Bench ruled that there was a case tc. answer, as the workmen were engaged on the excavations at the re—quest and by direction of the Borough Council. William John Neil, borough foreman, stated that the culvert at that place was outside the borough boundary. He had been working on the drain, and had followed the usual practice of deepening a drain by the’ tunnelling method under a culvert. He had found, in his experience of over 30 years, that the method adopted ■was quite satisfactory. Witness considered that plaintiff was travelling at a fast trotting pace until the mare stopped of her own accord immediately prior to shying. •_ To the magistrate witness stated , that a protective fence had been erect- N ed next day to make it safer for the men in the drain. Edward Shaw, Ohinemuri County engineer, stated that in his opinion the work of deepening the drain had been carried out according to the usual practice. He considered that’it was unnecessary to erect a fence while the operations were in progress. The protection erected the day following would only protect the wrokmen in the drain from the possibility-, ol having cattle pushed on to them. , The metalled road was 21ft -wide at 1 the scene of the accident, but no road would be reasonably safe il a horse shied badly. ' Patrick Carthy, borough workman, corroborated the evidence of the fore-* man. The Court then adjourned to enable an inspetcion of the scene of the accident to be made. After which the case was again adjourned for legal argument. The magistrate will probably give his finding at a special sitting of the Court.