MOTOR COLLISION.
ACTION FOR DAMAGES lii the Magistrate's Court at New Plymouth yesterday before Mr. S. K. McCarthy, S.M., an action to recover the sum of £7l lis 2d special and general damages, was brought by Jesse Jury, farmer, Oinata, against John Toms, mechanic, of Frankleigh, Park. Mr. Konald H. Quilliam appeared for , plaintiff, and Mr. A. \V. Jonnstone represented defendant. • Mr. Quilliam stated that Die occurrence, in respect of which the claim was made, took place on April 10th. Plaintiff had been to the Omata School, on the Waireka. road, to record his vote, and intended proceeding south towards Opunalce. On leaving the school lio came back along the Waireka road on low gear and st a walking pace. The main road has a riff in it from the corner of the Waireka road, going south. Plaintiff saw no other car approaching and heard no warning signal given. It was admitted plaintiff did not sound his horn, but counsel submitted that as the road appeared clear there was no necessity for his client to do so. Just when he came round the corner to turn towards Opunalce he saw another car coming down the hill towards liim, and ho applied the brakes and stopped his car dead about 15 feet from the corner of 1 the Waireka road. The front of his car was then just over the metal portion of the main road, and there was still about 13 feet of good road on Which defendant could have passed plaintiff. Defendant should have been able to see plaintiff from the top of the rise; but as ho did not and his car crashed into that of defendant, it Was "claimed that he had not his car under proper control, and drove so negligently as to cause the amount of the damage to defendant's car as alleged in the claim.
Maps of the locality "were submitted, but on the suggestion of Mr. Quilliam, to which Mr. Johnstone agreed, it was Arranged for the Magistrate, with the parties, to view the locality, and an adjournment for the purp&se was taken forthwith. On returning the hearing resumed. Plaintiff stated in evidence he had driven a car since last July and frequently used the car. On April 10 last he went to the Otaata School to vote. He was in the car, and had his wife, daughter, daughter-in-law and her child with him. When he got to the cornet of the Main South road, before turning he looked up and could see about 100 yards along and all was clear. Ho came on tb the turn of the road, and intended going towards Opunake, but just then saw another car about two chains away. Witness was then travelling on lowest gear. When he saw the other car he immediately stopped his car. The otuer car was travelling very fast. When -witness' car stopped he was abo.ut half-way across the metaLpart of the road. The front of his car was slightly turned towards Opunaks. The other car crushed into witness' car, and turned it right round towards New Plymouth. The other car went on for about two chains or more before stopping. He examined the tyre marks, which showed that defendant's car never went off the metal part of the road. There was a danger sign post at that corner. After the collision witnessed pushed his car off the road. It was so disabled that the engine would not work. The weatliei was fine on the day and the road wa* in good order. There was more traffic than usual on account of the voting. The bill for repairs amounted to £Ol lis 2d. This had been paid, and witness had been without the car for six or seven weeks and thereby inconvenienced. ,
To Mr. Johnstone: Waireka road was now a by-road. There were ahout four settlers living on it, and another besides himself used a motor car. Tho road w.as not much used by motors. The Main South road was frequently used by motors. The ear he purchased was a second-hand 1915-1G model Overland. Mo travelled along the Waircka road on low gear on the day in question because he knew he had a bad corner to turn. When he first saw defendant's oar he was about 15 feet from' tlia fence at the corner of tho two roads and his car was about half-way over the metal part of the South Road.. He heard nfl scream from the exhaust whiste of defendant's car. He denied that his car Was still moving forward at the time of the impact. His ear was struck on tho front springs, the impact being heavier on the left than on the right Bide. His car was facing t.he paddock on the opposite Bide of the road, slightly on the turn. The danger-post faceil away from the direction from which defendant was coming. Had witness been in the position of defendant he would have pulled over on to the wrong side of the road in order to pass a car in the position of plaintiff's. He could not say whether all the repairs made to the car were necessary on account ot tho accident.
Ada May July, who was in plaintiff's car at the time of the accident, said she first saw defendant's car while they Were still in the Waireka road When she first looked up the main road there was nothing coming along. She heard no horn sounded before she saw defendant's car. The collision took placa about two seconds after she first saw the other car. Their car had just started to turn tho corner when the collision occurred. Defendant's car was travelling very fast at the time.
To Mr. Johnstone: She thought defendant's ear was about 20. yards away when she first saw it. She called out "Look out!" when she saw the other ear. Her father did not sound the horn of his car. Only the two front wheels of her father's ear were on the metal part of the main rpad when the impact took place. Defendant was travelling along the middle of the metal part or the road. He did not swerve until after he struck their car.
Re-examined by Mr, Quilliam, witness said she thought defendant could have seen their car before they saw him.
.Reginald George Knapman, farmer, Omata, said lie was in the Omata school grounds at the time of the occurrence. He saw plaintiff drive away from the school at about five or six miles an hour. He saw defendant's car pass along .the main road, going at a very high speed. Within a second or two he heard the crash of the collision. Ho went out of the school grounds on to AVaireka Road and saw plaintiff's car on the Waireka Road. Defendant's car was about two chains beyond plaintiff's car, on the New Plymouth side. Witness described the wheel marks on the road, and said they appeared to show that defendant's car had left the metal after striking the [ plaintiff's car. To Mr. Johnstone: The metal of the Main South Road was nearer the fence on the church side, at the corner 01 Road, than on the other aide.
He did not examine the road for marks prior to .the spot ■ where the accident happened. Edgar Richmond Baily, farmer, Omata, said he was in the school grounds at the time of the occurrence, and saw a car, which lie afterwards found to be the Toms', going past along the main road at what he estimated was 30 miles an hour or more. He remarked that the car would "just about hit Jury's car," which had left the school a moment or two earlier. He heard the crash of the ,two cars in collision, and went down to see what had happened. He saw marks of the car wheels on the road, which seemed to show that Jury's car had been pushed or skidded along the road. The front wheels seemed to be on about the centre of the metal part of the road.
To Mr. Johnstone: He thought defendant's ear had been swerved out to the right-hand side of the road in an attempt to avoid a collision.
Lillian Frances Luvton gave evidence to the effect that plaintiff passed, her jn his car, going along the Waireka Road towards New Plymouth. He was travelling very slowly. She heard no sound of bolls or motor horns. She did not see the collision.
John Henry Thomas Hnthnance, motor mechanic, New Plymouth, said he was in defendant's car at the ,time of the accident. He had two years' experience at his trade, and was accustomed to drive cars almost every day. He went out with Toms as they were giving the car a .trial after soma repairs. At the time of the accident Toms was 1 driving, and the speed would be about 30 miles an hour. Prior to reaching the Omata store they had been going at up to 35 miles. The car was not in good running order. When the impact ,took place plaintiff's car was well over on the metal part of the main road. Toms' ear was swerved off the metal road, the righ,thand wheels being nearly the width of the car off the metal. It travelled about ft chain after the impact. To Mr. Johnstone: The brakes of Toms' car were working all right, but the engine was giving trouble. As they came clown the hill towards the corner the road was clear. Jury came round the corner when they were about a cnain away, and it continued to travel until more .than over the crown of the road. Toms swerved to the right-hand side, and accelerated his speed in order to avoid the collision. Toms sounded his whistle while coming down the hill. Jury's car was moving slowly when the collision took place. Toms' car got almost past plaintiff's, and just failed .to miss by about three inches. Witness said he would have acted the same as Toms had done if he had been caught in a similar position. It required prompt action on the par.t of both drivers to have avoided a collision. Witness detailed a number of the charges in the account for repairs, which could have had nothing ,to do with the accident. In reply to Mr. Quilliam, witness said if he found that a car which he war, asked to repair needed certain things done to put it in proper order he would consider it his place to make such repairs before re-assembling the parts Francis H. F. Washburne, motor garage proprietor, New Plymouth, gave evidence as to repairing Jury's car, and stated that all the items in the account were necessary at the time the car came to his shop. fc Mr. Johnstone, in opening the case for defendant, said he was not quite clear as to what the actual negligence was of which his client was accused. Apparently it was that he did not go far enough on to his wrong side of the road in order to pass another car which camo out of a by-road. He submitted that ]f there was negligence on the part of defendant there was /abundant evidence that plaintiff was also guilty of contributory negligence. Defendant gave evidence to the effect that he had had several years' experience in driving motor cars. His car whs ft six-cylinder, 44-h.p. machine, which he purchased at the beginning of this year On the day of the accident he had taken the car out for a trial run after repairs had been effected. On returning to New Plymouth, at the top of the hill coming down towards the corner of the Waireka Road, lie slowed down to about 25 miles an hour. He saw nothing till within about a chain of the corner, when a car came slowly out of .the Waireka Eoad Bind went straight across the South Road. Witness sounded his whistle, and he thought the other car would stop, but it continued on. The onlv way he could see of avoiding a collision was to turn out on his wrong side and put on speed bo as to pass plaintiff's car without striking it. Had the other car been stationary the swerve taken would have cleared it. Witness could not have swerved over any further to the rieht with safety. b
To Mr Quilliam: He was just abreast of the church gates when he first saw Jury's car. Witness made a practice of slowing down his car whenever ie descended a hill.
Witness was sure plaintiff's car was moving at the moment of impact. Harry R. Garnham, jeweller, New Plymouth, who was in Toms' car at the time of the accident, also ga,ve corroborative evidence.
After counsel had nddressed the court the magistrate intimated that his decision would be reserved.
Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TDN19190716.2.59
Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka
Taranaki Daily News, 16 July 1919, Page 6
Word count
Tapeke kupu
2,150MOTOR COLLISION. Taranaki Daily News, 16 July 1919, Page 6
Using this item
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Taranaki Daily News. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.