COLLISION SEQUEL

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 569, 28 June 1933, Page 7

COLLISION SEQUEL

(Continued froh* Page 3.) to cross the road and witness hit it fair on the wheel. After the accident his car was drawn back against the bank and made a mark on the bank which was still there. The top of the fight-hand edge of the lorry was only 18 inches off the sloping bank and a man would have all he could do to get through. The lorry was right across the road. , The damage to th'e car was £3 18s 3d, mostly to the lamp. The car was laid up fon a f ortnight and missed two £5 trips. A Missing Plan. Mr. Goldstine said that he desired to hring to the notice of the 'Bench that he had learned that Inspector' Pord had made a plan which had got into the possession of Mr. Hampson. He had sefved notice upon Mr. Hampson to produce it but he had r'efused. He asked the court to order the production of the map. Mr. Hampson said that he preferred to carry on his own case in his own way. The Bench upheld this point of view and said that he placed very little reliance upon plans, anyway. Did Not See Measurements. Cross-examined by Mr. Hampson Anderson said that h'e did not see Ford measure the distances at first. He showed Ford where his car was i but did not see any measuring done. His car went 30 feet before it hit the lorry. Both lorry and car were almost stationary when the impact occurred. The reason the lorry was so much damaged was hecause it was on its full lock, not hecanse it was going fast. He measured th'e road at the point of impact and it was 18 feet j wide. He was 5 feet out and the : width of his car was 5 feet. He had .put his brakes on because there was no room for him to get through, as the lorry was not on its right side. No i dray got past the lorry. A man named j Dean came up and had to get a jack to shift the lorry over before he could get past. To Mr. Goldstine: Ford had told him that if the lorry had not been moved he was all right and he had sent for McPherson to prove that it had not been shifted. Nothing could pass until Dean came along and shifted the lorry with a jack. A Passenger's View. iRaewi Hopaia gave evidence that he was a passenger in the front of An- j derson's car, which was travelling ' slowly- At the. bend h'e was on his ' own side of the road. He did not hear , the lorry sound its horn but the car ' horn was blown. The lorry appeared j on its wrong side and Anderson applied his brakes and stopped. The lorry tried to cross the road and only the front of the truck got over and the back was on the wrong side of the road. The car was knocked backward and made a hole in the bank. Dean

caime up with a 2-seater car and could not get through. Contable Takes Measurements. Hugh Malcolm McPherson, district constable of Te Whaiti, was called to the scene of the accident. On arrival be saw the lorry, which' was at an angle to the road. Witness searched the " roadway and could pick up the tracks. He took measurements and made a plan on the spot. Anderson, Paewhi and Dornbush were present. Witness produced the plan made at the time. The width of th'e road at the point of impact was 18 feet and the grass was beyond that. The rear of the lorry was placed 18 inches from the top of the bank and a plumib-bob from the back of the lorry would have fallen in the watertable. He had to turn sideways to get past and the wheel was 4 feet from the bank. Sixteen feet back the rear wheel of the lorry was 4 feet from the hank. He followed the tracks right up to the wheels. The track of the left-hand wheel of the car was. 5 feet from the hank on the edge of the metal. The tracks showed th'e lorry was on its wrong side and the tracks showed that the lorry had tried to dodge and to get back to its proper side. Subsequently Mr. Ford asked him where the tracks were. Witness showed Ford where the mark of Anderson's tracks had been and he had said "That's about 5 feet froim, the bank." The tracks of the lorry were gone but anyone could see where the lorry was. i There was a mark on the hank where the car had backed into the bank and mud from the hank on th'e bumper and mudguard of the car. The marks were there to-day. Alleigied Marks oit Plan. Mr. Hampson: Has no pencil been put on this plan since September? McPherson: Not by me, sir. The Bench: There are fresh pencil marks. Mr. Goldstine: What? Continuing, witness said that he had made the plan at the time of his first visit to the accident and had put it in his pocket. All the information Ford wanted was on this plan but witness did not show iij to him since he did not ask for it. Had h'e done so, it would have been shown to him. It was obvious that it would have been of assistance to him. Ford was on the spot and could make his own observations. Witness took the plan back to Te Whaiti and kept it in his office until it was shown to Mr. Goldstine yesterday. The Bench: That's Sunday, isn't it? Mr. Goldstine: Yes, I work on Sunday. The Bench. Mr. Goodson will be glad to know that someone else works on Sunday. Continuing, witness said that he did not show the map to Mr. Potter, as he did not come out to Te Whaiti. Recently Made? Mr. Hampson said that the plan

had been made within the last week. McPherson: No, that is not so. To Mr. Goldstine: They are mistaken in their imputation that the plan was not made at the time. Continuing, McPherson said that he had refused to allow anyone to h'andle the plan at all until he produced it in court. He was a distant relation by marriage with Anderson but not a blood relation. He had told Mr. Potter that he had the plan some time before. Ronald A. Pot'ter, solicitor, of Rotorua, gave evidence that Anderson had told him th'at McPherson had taken the measurements and had all the details. Witness produced a plan which he said was a copy of a plan made by Ford in conneetion with the accident, which plan ibore no sign of any wheel marks nor of th'e distance of the back of the lorry from the bank. Witness partieularly looked for these. Mr. Goldstine said that it was the first time he had known of an inspector who had prepared a plan which had not been produced in court. The Decision. The Bench said that the matter depended upon questions of fact and upon which driver and sets of witnesses could be believed. In the first place, Dornbush impressed him as being a cool, level-headed young man who gave his evidence fairly, hut An- . derson appeared excitable and Dornbush's eyidence was preferable. It-was unfortunate that the evidence of the traffic inspector was set against that otf Constable McPherson. He had always found Ford's evidence accurate and fair, but McPherson's evidence was not always so clear and reliable. Paewhi appeared to be a stupid young man whose evidence was not worth anything. Judgment would be for the claim and counterclaim to plaintiffs; Mr. Goldstine th'en asked the Bench to fix security for appeal and to note on the evidence that he had requested that Ford he recalled, that the plan had not been produced and the Bench's remark that "plans are usually misleading" and "I take very little notice of them" he endorsed on th'e evidence. The Bench: Certainly not. Mr. Goldstine: What, you won't do it. The Bench: No. Mr. Goldstine: Will you fix security for appeal, as is usual? The Bench: I have received no application. Mr. Goldstine: I'll put it in writing. The Bench: Application can be made in chambers. Judigment was entered for plaintiff with' costs, £9 9s.