Daughter Killed, Mother Seriously Injured
WHEN CAR CRASHES INTO GIG
CHRISTCHURCH, Last Night. A fatal accident occurred at Methven this evening when a motor car driven by Lawrence McKendry crashed into the rear of a gig, the occupants of which were Mrs. Highley and Miss Rachel Highley. Miss Highley sustained fatal injuries and Mrs. Highley was seriously hurt. McKendry suffered minor injuries. Both vehicles were badly smashed. -Horowhenua Chronicle, 23/5/1930.
LATE MISS HIGHLEY.
LARGELY-ATTENDED FUNERAL
The funeral of Miss Rachel Highley, daughter of Mr and Mrs M. J. Highley, of Cairnbrae. took place at the Methven Cemetery on Sunday afternoon. The tragic suddenness and manner of her death caused general grief, and this was manifest in the unusually large number of residents of Methven and the surrounding districts who attended the funeral. Miss Highley had always been a keen helper in all the activities of St. John’s Presbyterian Church, and the services at the residence and the graveside were conducted by the Rev. R. Morgan, minister of that charge. The pall-bearers were Messrs S. Morgan, S. Woods, E. Lock and Morrison (members of St. John’s Bible Class). Many beautiful floral tributes were placed on the grave. At St. John’s Presbyterian Church on Sunday evening the Rev. R. Morgan conducted a memorial service for Miss Highley. There was an overflowing congregation. -Ashburton Guardian, 27/5/1930.
METHVEN FATALITY
TRAP AND CAR COLLIDE.
EVIDENCE AT THE INQUEST.
An inquest was held at Methven yesterday afternoon to determine the circumstances of the death of Rachel Annie Highley, aged 21, who was killed on the Cairnbrae-Methven Road on May 22, when a collision occurred between a horse and trap in which she and her mother were travelling and a motor-car driven by Lawrence Thomas McKendry, aged 25.
A verdict was returned that deceased met her death as the result of a fracture at the base of the skull, caused by being thrown on her head from a trap following a collision with a motor-car driven by McKendry.
The District Coroner (Mr R. Clark) conducted the inquiry. Mr Hunter appeared for the relatives of the girl, and Mr J. W. M. (Dart, of Methven, for McKendry.
Mary Jane Highley, the mother of the girl, said that shortly after 7 p.m. on May 22 she and her daughter left their home at Cairnbrae for Methven, driving in a trap. Her daughter was holding a lantern on the left-hand side of the trap. They kept to the middle of the road, and no other lights were to be seen. They travelled about three-quarters of a mile along the road, witness looking back occasionally but seeing no lights. After three-quarters of a mile witness looked round again and saw a car right behind them, and it dashed into the trap, not giving them time to turn one way or the other. After the crash she did not remember anything until she found herself lying on the ground. She tried to rise, although there was blood all over her head. She took one step, but fell over and stayed there till the doctor came and took her home.
A Good Bright Light.
To Mr Dart: It was a new hurricane lamp they had in the trap. Witness was driving the horse. Her daughter held the lamp over the splash board as she was very particular about it. It was a good bright light, but there was no red on it. She knew that a light, if there was only one, should, in a trap, be carried on the right hand side. She did not hear the horn of the motor sounded. She had made a statement to the police, but it was not correct, as “she was in bed unconscious at the time.” She said in the statement that she would have pulled out of the way if she had had time, but there was no time for anything.
To Mr Hunter: She did not see the car until it was right up on them. She knew the stretch of road well, having driven over it regularly for more than 20 years.
Constable Robertson took the statement from her the day after the accident, and she was feeling very had. She was in bed for three weeks altogether.
To the Coroner: She did not see the reflection of the lights of the car on the gig.
Wiliam Huston McKee, medical practitioner, Methven, said he was called to the scene of the accident. and found that the girl was dead. McKendry was there very white and shocked but quite sober. The trap was at the side of the road, and the horse was lying partially on the road. Witness did not look for skid marks of the car on the road. Witness made an examination of the body, and was of opinion that death resulted from a fracture of the base of the skull resulting from a fall on the top of the head.
To Mr Dart: Mrs Highley was not unconscious the day after the accident.
To Mr Hunter: It was possible for a patient to develop compression some time after a blow.
To Mr Dart: There was no sign of compression in Mrs Highley.
Lawrence Thomas McKendry, of ,Lyndhurst, the driver of the car involved in the smash, said that on the night of the accident he was driving into Methven. About a mile past Highley’s home he saw a trap ahead of the car and only about a chain away. He sounded his horn and turned to the right to pass it but the trap swerved at the same time. When he first saw the trap he would be travelling at about 30 miles an hour. When the trap pulled to the right he swung the car to the left and applied the brakes. The trap came back to the left again and the car crashed into it. He spoke to Mrs Highley but could not understand what she said. He did what he could for the two injured people and went on to get the doctor, leaving a friend to see that things were all right. Later he got the constable.
To Mr Hunter: He had held a motor driver’s license for six or seven years. The car he was driving was his father’s. It was a six—cylinder Studebaker. Witness had had no liquor that day. Thirty miles an hour was just an estimated speed of the car. His lights were properly adjusted. He did not know if the lights had been tested at any time. The headlamps gave a good light. He did not see any other light on the road at all, and was in no hurry to get to Methven.
Mr Hunter: You usually drive fast, though, don’t you?
Mr Dart objected to the question, saying that he had exercised enough patience. Mr Hunter had no right to ask the question.
“I have no need of either your patience on your sympathy,” said Mr Hunter.
“You are not getting it,” said Mr Dart.
The Coroner ruled that the question should not be asked.
Witness (to Mr Hunter): It was the left-hand side of the trap the car struck, and on the inside. The trap was pretty well smashed up. The brakes were on when he hit the trap. He would be travelling at 10 or 15 miles an hour when he hit it. He could not remember if he put on the hand brake.
A Question Not Answered.
Were you able to pull up, going at the pace you were, between the time when you first saw the gig and the time of impact? —— I do not wish to answer that question.
On what grounds? —— It might go against what I have just said previously.
Was there room for you to pass on the left-hand side of the gig? —— Yes; there would have been if I had not first swung to the right.
John Moriarty, a passenger in the car, also gave evidence, stating that there was no sudden jolt of the car pulling up before the collision.
Constable Robertson said that he was called to the scene of the accident.
To Mr Dart, he said skids were noticeable before the first signs of where the smash had occurred. He obtained a statement from Mrs Highley the day after the accident, in which she said she had pulled the right-hand rein to get in amongst the broom when she saw the car so close, as she thought that the best thing to do.
To the Coroner: There was no doubt as to the skid marks being on the road.
The Coroner said he would refrain from making any comment on the case. -Ashburton Guardian, 25/6/1930.
DANGEROUS DRIVER.
FINED BY MAGISTRATE.
(By Telegraph — Press Association). CHRISTCHURCH, Sunday.
Arising out of an accident hear Methven on/May 22, whereby Rachel Highley, a young woman, lost her life, through a motor colliding with a gig, Lawrence Thomas McKendry appeared before Mr Orr Walker, S.M., at Methven on Saturday, charged with having driven a car in a manner dangerous to the public.
Counsel pointed out that defendant had already been dealt with on a similar charge at the Christchurch Supreme Court and acquitted by a jury.
The Magistrate could not agree with this view, and fined defendant £l0 and delicensed him till after January, 1932.
A charge of having failed to pass on the right side of an overtaken vehicle was withdrawn. -Wairarapa Daily Times, 24/11/1930.
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