RUN DOWN BY BICYCLE
ACCIDENT AT KARANGAHAKE. EVIDENCE AT INQUEST. Fatal injuries were sustained by Mary Elizabeth Bramble, a daughter Mr and Mrs W. Bramble, of Karangahake, who was knocked down by a bicycle ridden by a 12-year-old boy, Leonard Alfred Nelson, when he was returning from school at Karangahake on Thursday afternoon last. Particulars concerning the incident were given at an inquest held before the district coroner at Waihi, Mr W. M. Wallnutt, in the Waihi Courthouse, on Friday afternoon. Mr Bramble, father of the deceased, stated that he was a road foreman, and after giving evidence of identification, said he arrived home at about 6 o’clock on Thursday evening to find that his daughter had met with an accident. He sent for Dr. J. McMurray Cole, of Waihi, who found that the child was suffering from head injuries and ordered her to the Waihi Hospital. Witness took the child in his own car, but she died on admission to the institution.
Nelson, the cyclist concerned in the accident, said that he left school to go home at about -3.5 p.m. He was cycling along the main footpath towards the railway bridge, doublebanking a friend of his named Charles Allen, when he saw several little girls on the footpath ahead of him. When they saw him coming all the girls, with the exception of deceased, went to the outside of the footpath, while Mary Bramble stepped to the inside. He tried to go between the girls, and’ Mary suddenly ran in front of his machine. He jerked the handlebars to the side and he and his passenger both fell off. He did not see the girl hit, and when he next saw her she was sitting up. He did not know she was dead until 8.30 o’clock that evening.
Complained of Head.
Phyllis Robinson, aged 13, gave evidence that she had returned from school and had been sent out on a message. She had seen the girls on the footpath, and had also seen the boys approaching on the bicycle. She went up to the group, and Mary Bramble said : “Oh, my head.” She was taken home by some of the othei' girls. Dr. Cole stated that he had been called to Karangahake and had seen the girl at 6.30 p.m. He had considered that the only chance of saving her life was to perform an operation, and had ordered her removal to the hospital. The patient was admitted at 7.30 o’clock, when she died. In his opinion death was due to pressure on the brain occasioned by haemorrhage brought about by a fracture of the skull.
Sergeant D. L. Calwell said it appeared that the fatality was the direct result of riding on the footpath, a practice that had probably grown up in Karangahake on account of the town being more or less deserted. “This is a very sad, but purely accidental occurrence,” said the coroner. “Pviding on a footpath is an offence under the Police Offences Act, but we know that it is quite common in Karangahake, especially among children. It is, however, my duty to point out the danger that exists, and this sad fatality should be a warning to children generally, and also to adults. A simple accident has x resulted in the death of this little girl, and the lesson to be taken from it is that no person can afford to take a risk.” Mr Wallnutt returned a verdict of accidental death, and extended the sympathy of the court to Mr and Mrs Bramble and other members of the family.
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Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXX, Issue 5514, 16 December 1929, Page 2
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597RUN DOWN BY BICYCLE Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXX, Issue 5514, 16 December 1929, Page 2
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