OHAKUNE DISTRICT COURT

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 11, Issue 503, 14 September 1993, Page 8

OHAKUNE DISTRICT COURT

Careless driving Pollyann Parikahu Condon, 18, apprentice hairdresser of Raetihi, appeared on a defended charge of careless driving causing injury to Dale Young on 6 March. Both he and defendant were injured when the car she had borrowcd failed to take a bend on the Ohakune/Raetihi road near the Waimarino golf course.

The first witness to testify was Dale Young who said that he had been picked up by defendant from his home in Old Station Road, Ohakune, at about 9.45pm to attend a party in Raetihi. He was not aware that defendant did not hold a driving licence. As they were travelling along the 'straight' between the sub-station and the left-hand corner near

the golf course at Makarunui, he noted the speedo reading was 130 km/h and mentioned this to defendant who was driving. As they entered the corner the car struck gravel on the left-hand side of the road, thcn drifted back onto the tarseal and rolled. He had no recollection of what happened after that. Waimarino ambulance

officer Phillip Beer was the next prosecution witness. He said that when he arrived at the accidcnt scene he found two injured persons who were no longer in the car. He assessed their injuries and transported both of them to the Rural Health Centre (prcviously known as the Waimarino Hospital) in Raetihi. He later transported the defendant to Wanganui Base Hospital. The next witness was police constable Ian Harrison of Ohakune who said that he examined the accident scene the following day and noted the skid marks both on the gravel shoulder and on the tar-seal. He also later examined the damaged vehicle which had been removed to Horopito Motors. He noted that the left-hand front tyre showed evidence of serious longterm wear to the extent that the outer casing between the tread and the side walls had wom away to expose the steel wire (previously canvas) backing. This would have been caused by a wheel alignment problem he said. He agreed, under cross examination, that this might have caused the vehicle to either understeer or over-steer as it went into the comer. He also agreed that he found the left-hand rear wheel was deflated having been torn from the rim which Turn to page 9

OHAKUNE DISTKECT COURT

From page 8 itself had snapped but he could not say for certain whether this had happened before or after the accident. He also agreed that tlje corner concerned had no advisory speed signs and could be taken at 100 km/h. He later spoke to and took a statement from defendant who said she had borrowed ihe vehicle and admitted to not having a driving licence. Because defendant had

suffered from amnesia in relation to the accident (this was confirmed by a doctor's certificate) she was not called to give evidence but -defence counsel, Garry Johnson, submitted the accident occurred as the result of the worn tyre which his client could not have known about because, when she borrowed the car that night, she had had no opportunity of examining or being aware of the condition of the tyre.

However, Judge Watson, in his summing up, said for this argument to be used successfully in defence the accident had to be attributed to a sudden completely unexpected and totally unforseen failure of some mechanical feature of the vehicle. In this particular case the argument could not apply because the tyre showed signs of significant long-term wear and, whether or not it had con-

tributed to the accident and whether or not the defendant knew about it, it was not a sudden, completely unexpected and totally unforseen event. This was a matter for defendant to take up with the owner of the vehicle who must have known about the condition of the tyre, if she wanted to. Defendant was convicted and fined $500, court costs $95 and disqualified for 12 months.