MOTOR FATALITY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 254, 17 March 1913, Page 7

MOTOR FATALITY.

TillC IXQI'EST. .1 L'RV'S UK'.'OMMK\nA r nOX,

All impiest was held in Hip Mag- ] istrate's Court on Saturday morning into the circumstances of the death ot Alexander Norman Bewley, who was fatally injured in a motor-car accident on Thursday afternoon. The ActingCoroner (Dr. 11. A. McCleland) presided, and the jury, of which Mr. F. C, J. Uellriwer was foreman, comprised: Messrs. W.'~F. McAllum, W. C. Weston, J. Clarke, A. Mcllavdv. and J. T. Maiinix. Mr. C. W. Covett'watched the proceedings on behalf of the relatives of the deceased, while Mr. A. 11. Johnstone appeared for the owner of the car. Arthur CI ill', secretary of the Taranaki Agricultural Society, deposed that on Thursday last he and the deceased and others* left New Plymouth in a motor-car. belonging to Mr M. Jones, for Waitara. lie did not know who wis driving the car. never having seen him before° Thev started from the Criterion Hotel at 2.10 p.m. Just on the incline going flown to Mr. Kibby's. at Fitzroy the car was proceeding at the rate | of'from 10 to I."> miles an hour. The] road was exceptionally good and clear of traffic. The car seemed to swerve as thoii"h dodging a stone or something of that "sort, and the next thing he remembered was Mr. Bewlev. who was sitting next to the driver, asking the latter WHAT HE WAS UP TO? Witness sat tight and thinking there was something wrong with the steering"ear. expected the brakes to go on im-; mediately. The brakes did not go on and the' next thing was that the car struck the kerbing and rushed along the channelling, the engine still going. When he saw that a collision with an electric lio-ht pole was imminent, he left the car, throwing himself on the ground. The car after striking the post threw his companions out. On examination after, the accident he found that the car had, travelled some six or seven yards beyond the post. Witness immediately "saw that Mr. Bewley was in serious trouble. The .deceased was lying on the. footpath, on the town side of the post, and about a yard behind the car. The accident took place on the left hand side of the road. Mr. Rewley was sitting next to the driver and it was his right leg that was injured. Witness thought the ; concussion of the car threw the deeesjsI ed on to the post and then caught him ! and twisted him around the post. Wit'ness did not think that the deceased | jumped from the car. Witness was posi- ! tive that the engines were going; when ! the car struck the post, and were stopI ped by the impact. There was about 35 [ yards' between the post and where the | car commenced to swVrve. and it stopIped about five yards beyond the post. I Seeing the car did not stop when it eomj menccd to swerve, witness rose from the seat and noticed that the driver still J had both lipids on the wheel. Ronald Paul, in business in New Plymouth as an ironmonger, said he. knew the deceased very well. Bewley, who was the son of Walter Bewley, commission agent, was 28 years of age. He was \ in the car at the time of the accident. JHe was sitting in the back seat. The I road was a good width at the scene of the occurrence. As far as witness could see the driver did nothing to control the machine. Witness could see that something was wrong and expected that the car would be stopped, lie saw the electric light post. Witness was thrown out cm the side, McDavitt on top of him. In witness's opinion the engines were going when the- car struck the post, but he could not speak as to whether any attempt was made to put the brake

To tlie .Turv: Mr. Bewley engaged the car. At the time witness said that he DID NOT FKFJ, TOO KEEN ON GOING. as the driver did not >Jook too good. To Senior-Sergeant Haddrell: Witness expressed this opinion to Mr. McKean and others. 'Die reason why he based this opinion as to the incompetency of the driver was Unit lie looked uneasy in his seat and the engines were racing while the ear was standing still. In his opinion that was not good driving. There was no question of insobriety about the driver.

Dr. Wylie gave evidence that the late Mr. Bewley was admitted to the Hospital on Tliursdav afternoon, suffering from severe injuries to his right leg, including a fracture of the thigh and a complete dislocation of the knee. Mr. Bewley was suffering very severely from shock. The condition of the. limb was 'such as to demand amputation. This was done on Thursday evening last, but the patient, however, never recovered from the shock of the injury, and died as a direct result of it at fl.4r> a.m. on Friday. Witness asked Mr. Bewley how the accident lmimened and lie said that SOMETHING- WENT WRONG with the steering gear and the car charged into a telegraph post. Witness said "What was the driver doing?" and Mr. Bowiev replied: "He never put the brakes on."

A. L. Keith, manager of the Taranaki (New Zealand) Oil Wells Company's Works, deposed that a C'althorpe car passed him in Devon street, about 200 yards the Fitzroy side of the Red House Hotel, while be (witness) was in bis own car. Witness followed not far behind them all the way to Fitzroy. When within a few yards of the pole witness noticed that there was something wrong with the car in front. The car was not travelling ten miles nn hour when the accident happened. Witness thought that all the occupants in the disabled car were thrown out. The engines were not running after tlie car struck. He could not say whether lliev were before.

To the Acting-Coroner: If the brakes were in good order and the driver was a capable man. he did not think the car could have been pulled up between the time it commenced to swerve and the actual collision with the nost.

■lolin Baker, in the emplov of Mr. M. ■Tones, said be was first a cab driver and (hen a chauffeur. Last Thursday afternoon he picked up a party at the Criterion Hotel, lie lir-t noticed something wronjr about a ctuple of chains this side of Kibby's stables, Fitzroy. He kept on his driving side of the road. When be first found Out that the Veering-gear had gone wrong, he said. "The steering•"■ar is broken." lie immediately put out the clutch and put on both brakes. That -was a,!! he knew till the car struck the po<

To Serf-cant 1 In-Id P.-] I: To put out Hie clutch allowed the engine to run free. Timt meant that the engine was running but, was not pullin;; tlie ear. He nut the ein''i'«enc\' brake on with liis hand, and the ordinary brake villi his foot, lie could not sav how far he was from the post when he did this. He thought., however, that when he first applied the brakes he was about eleven yards oh", lie was about a chain away from the post when he realised that the steerinjr-jceav was wronir. Witness was not thrown nut of the car. beinj;' blocked bv the steering wheel. A MTSSFXC XIT. He cvamined th" ear immediately nfterwarils and found that a n"t had come off owinir to the displacement the nin on the steerivur rod. This put the who'e steering uear out of working order. As regards his experience as a driver, he had been employed in that capacity bv a doctor in .\shburton for about six months. TTe had done about 200 miles in the car in which the. accident happened, lie had been to Ureiuii, and a trip to the Mountain, round the fountain, and short trips. ]{e had ex-

amincd the car the day before the :u-ci-1* dent. The nut was in its |.!.i,.-e then. ami the only thiny that could, in ii.sj opinion, dislodge it was t ,- e shaking. 1 The nut was screwed on fairly loose, and to take it out the pin vould first havel to he extracted, 'the pin .lid not lit t-'j!''.. At the time of the u'cidenl Hie <;;• \.as travelling at between 12 and 15 >:'iles sin hour, lie did not know in v.iia;. distance he could pull his car up. He was not a machinist, but he knew a good deal about a ear. Tie did everything that he could possibly do to prevent the accident. To the Jury: He had never had occasion before to use both brakes simultaneously on this car. When the car struck the kerbing the brakes were on, but immediately afterwards the footbrake was oil, because he was jolted oil'. He did not have time to form an opinion whether his brakes were in good order or otherwise. They acted ail right becaus.- they skidded the car along the 1 gutter. To the Coroner: lie could stop a ear within three times its own length at ten miles an hour. He did not apply the brakes until the kerbing was struck. Wm. Stephens, of Stephens, and llvme's motor garage, said that on Thursday afternoon he went out at \lr. Jones's request to the scene of the accident to eNamine the ear. From examining the trades he calculated the car was about 20 yards away from the post when she commenced to swerve. He examined the car and found that the nut on the steering rod had fallen oil', exactly how it would be difficult to tell. If the pin came out the bolt might come out within 100 yards or it might run for five miles. The only guiird for that was to examine the car before starting out. With a car travelling at 10 miles an hour it should be possible to pull up a car in two lengths. In this case the conditions were not favourable to this, owing to the fact that the ear was descending an incline. The fact of the engine running did not indicate that it was pulling the ear. • To Mr. Johnstone: The act of steering with the pin out would certainly help ito loosen the nut. To the Jury: The O'althorpe brakes were very severe, if put on suddenly. There were no, (nullifications for a chauffeur in Xew Plymouth before he was j placed in oharge of a ear. In other larger towns there were. Since Thursday he , ] had made an examination of the ear, ; which was in sufficient good order for . hiring purposes. The brakes were the [ main thing, and these were all right. ; lil. Holah, motor-garage proprietor, ! | who saw the car on the road after the .' accident, said it was 120 feet from where [ J the car commenced to swerve to the . pole. He stepped the distance out. Tt L | was about, three ears' length from where . J it struck the wooden kerbing to the post. ;I He noticed that the nut was niissinsr. ,; and the shaft was out of place. He did . I not examine the machine closely. Proi j viding he was not travelling at a high . j rate of speed and that the driver did 3 j not lose his head, the car should have 1! been pulled up before it reached the post. j To the Jury. There, were no by-laws . regulatin.l in anv way cars plying for ; hi r e in New Plymouth. There were in 5 other towns. Tn his opinion there should . be some such regulations in Xew Ply--5 \ mouth, • FOR THE SAFETY OF THE PUBLTC. , Addressing the jury the Coroner .said , that without wishing to reflect on the „, capability of the driver, he ventured to suggest that thev should make a strong point of emphasising the fact that, the drivers of cars for hire—in fact of all , ears, for the safety of the public had to men who drove cars to pass an examin--1 tion in efficiency. Tf other boroughs , eould make regulations compelling these men who drove ears to pass an examin--7 ation, then surely it could be done here. 6 I THE VERDICT. The jury returned a verdict in accordance with the medical evidence, and added e. rider to the effect that all motorear drivers should be subject to regulations as to their efficiency, and recommending the municipal authorities to frame by-laws dealing with this matter.