A DARK HORSE

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 544, 30 May 1933, Page 5

A DARK HORSE

AND A DARK NIGHT LEADS TO VAN DRIVER'S APPBAR AN CE IN. COURT SEQUEL TO COLLISION The story of a dark drizzly night, a collision with a dark horse which' turned a somersault in the road and 'a. set of car lights which one side said were bright "and the other side so dim that a caridle had to be used to drive through a gatewav, was unfolded before Mr. S. L. Paterson, S.M., in the Rotorua Magistrate's Court yesterday, when Ernest Henry Pedley, a van-driver, was charged with' negligent driving. Through Mr. J. Burton, he pleaded not guilty. '. . Senior-Sefgeant Carroll said that defendant was driving a motor van on the Whakatane Road arid struck a horse causing its rider to be thrown and injured. Struck from Behind James Denis Foley, lahourer, said that on April 26 he had been on relief works and knocked off at 5 p.m. going to the hospital which he left at 6 p'.m. He- was riding his horse but beyond the trough on the Wairoa Road, a vehicle struck his horse from behind causing her to turn a somersault backward and throwing him to the road. The driver then assisted him home where he was attended byDr. Wallis. There was a lady with defendant in the car. He admitted that he had eomplained to his employer about the bad lights on the van and also that the windscreen wiper was defective and that h'e had expected •an accident. The defendant took him in the van to the hospital and the van lights were then very poor. Witness said that he was riding close up to the left of the road when he was run into. He saw) no lights and had no warning. He had had no liquor. To Mr. Burton: He had not been in the Palace Hotel tha.t night. He was certain that there was a lady in the van. It was a dark night with a drizzling rain and the visibility was bad. He was riding about 6ft from the water table when struck. Pedley had told him half a dozen times that his lights were bad. He was riding a black mare that night. Pedley had said that it was all his own fault and was very good to witness. Robert Henry Foley, brother of the last witness said that defendant had claimed responsibility for the accident and said that his employer had been told about the bad state of the lights on the van but would do nothing. Witness had to pilot the car up to the road with a candle. Witness then went to look for his horse and found it in the cemetery. It had been no good ever since. The marks on the road showed that the horse- had been on its correct side of the road. To Mr. Burton: The marks were distinct but witness did not measure' them. His brother had not had a drink for over 12 months. * Margaret Foley, wife of James Foley, gave evidence that Pedley had admitted the liability for the accident, the rest of her evidence being corroborative of that given by the previous two witnesses. Constable Andrews deposed to having taken a statement from Pedley stating that he thought that the horse had kicked the truck. Witness took measurements showing that the place of impact was 6ft from the water table. Nothing was said as to Foley having been under the influence of liquor. To Mr. Burton: Witness went with the Foleys to the scene of th'e accident as he thought that they knew best what had appened. Had Pedley been available he would eblso have. gone along. The visibility was bad that night. The Defence Mr. Burton said that the defence was that the accident was caused by Foley not keeping close to the left of the road. Pedley would deny that the lights were bad or that he said so. Ernest Henry Pedley the defendant gave evidence that he was driving a small white van on his usual round that night and the visibility was very bad a.t the time. He was going very slowly and could not say how the accident happened as the horse showed up so sudderily. He pulled up and the rider fell off on witness' right hand side. He had no girl in the car at all. The radiator was kicked, the lamp bent and the mudguard also bent, all on the right hand side of the car. He had b.een travelling three feet from the left hand side of the road. Frequently he passed horsemen who always rode in the water table. Had Foley been in the water table, he would not have been hit. Witness denied t?hat his lights were in any way defective or that he had said so. The candle was only produced for the benefit ofi Dr. WJallis. Witness ',s employer alwafys kept the car in good condition. When witness next saw the h'orse it was not seriously injured. Witness had driven a car nearly all his life and had never had an accident. He did everything possible to avoid an .accident. To Senior-Sergeant Carroll: He did not see the horse until he was right on it. Witness did not inspect the road after the accident. Bad Visibility . Inspector D. Ford gave evidenee that the spot where the- accident occurred was a bad one for visibility. Foley was frequently on th'e road at night, and riding a black horse, was hard to see. Cyril A. B'ates gave evidence regarding the damage to the car. The damage was all on the right hand side of the car. The lights were of normal power and were good. The Bench said that if defendant's lights were in good order as he said they were, then lie should have seen the horse in time to pull up, for he was travelling the pace he said h'e was. Defendant was fined £1 and. costs, 12s and witnesses' expenses.