ACCIDENTS & FATALITIES

Southland Times, Issue 18845, 10 June 1920, Page 6

ACCIDENTS & FATALITIES

SANDON MOTOR DISASTER, AN OPEN VERDICT. (Per United Press Association.) PALMERSTON NORTH, June 8. At an inquiry into the recent motoir smash at Sandon, whereby Mr A. E. Eglinton was killed and Messrs E. A. Penny and F. Kinnan died subsequently from their injuries, the Coroner found that Mr Eglinton’s car was on the correct side Of the road, and that up to a minute before the collision it had its lights burning. As to (he speed of the cars, Mr Eglinton’s had not much pace; Mr Newth's was travelling at 25 miles an hour, and probably more. The Coroner did not consider 30 miles an hour or a little over an excessive speed at the particular place where the collision occurred. He thought there was a failure on the part of the driver of Mr Newth’s car to keep a proper lookout. If the latter had taken ordinary care he must, have seen Mr Eglinton’s car lights, and been prepared. Therefore, he found some negligence on Mr Newth’s part in failing to keep a proper look-out. Under the circumstances he would return an open verdict that the deceased died from injuries .sustained in a motor collision at Sandon on May 20. The Coroner added that he would like to remark on the reckless driving which was undoubtedly carried on throughout the country, which caused the accidents they read about so'often. To his mind these accidents were the result of carelessness. It was necessary that some action should be taken to prevent reckless driving. FALL FROM A TRAIN. YOUNG MAN S DEATH. AUCKLAND, June fl. A young man named James Mallin, who was picked up unconscious beside the Ouehimga railway line at Penrose on Monday night and taken to the Auckland Hospital, died early this morning. So far inquiries have failed to elicit an explanation of how Mallin came to fall from the train. He and a companion named Murdoch McLeod, of Onehunga, were found beside the line injured. McLeod’s injuries were much less serious than those of Mallin, whose skull was fractured, and McLeod is now an out-patient of the hospital. Beyond the statement that they were standing on the carriage platform and fell off the train, no explanation has been given of the accident. An inquest will be opened to-morrow.