STREET FATALITY
CHILD KNOCKED DOWN BY CAR
While playing in High street, Mosgiel, yesterday afternoon, a boy named Clifford John Whitson was knocked down by a motor car and killed almost instantaneously. The boy, who was seven years of age, lived with his parents in High street. An inquest was opened at Mosgiel this afternoon. -Evening Star, 27/4/1932.
KILLED WHILE PLAYING
BOY KNOCKED DOWN BY CAR
An inquest on Clifford John Whitson, aged seven years, who was killed when he was knocked down by a motor car in High street, Mosgiel, last Tuesday afternoon, was continued by the coroner (Mr J. R. Bartholomew, S.M.) to-day. Constable Phillips represented the police.
David Findlay, aged eight years, said he was playing with the boy when he was run over in High street. Clifford Whitson was playing with a hoop. They ran along High street on the gravel, and when near the corner of Factory road he saw a car come round the corner. They were on the left-hand side of the road. He said, “Look-out, Cliff., there is a car coming,” He did not know whether or not the other boy heard him. He ran on to the grass on the right side and he saw Clifford struck by the car. Mr Wallace pulled up his car about 12yds from where it had struck the boy. He had shown the police the spots where the boy was struck and where the car stopped. Mr Wallace came back to Clifford with Mrs Wallace, who picked the boy up and took him to his mother’s home.
To counsel for the relatives: He did not hear the car’s horn sounded, although it might have sounded. Clifford bowled his hoop all the way from the railway on the road.
Robert Ruthven, a farmer, Wingatui road, said that at about 4.30 p.m. on April 26, he was driving two drays and four horses along Factory road. When he was near Morrison street he saw a car approaching from the rear at a speed of about seven miles an hour. At the intersection with High street the car cut behind the rear horses to take a turn into High street. He knew then that it was Mr Wallace’s car. He saw two boys in Factory road; the boy with the hoop was on the left-hand side and the other boy was on the opposite side of the road. When the car was three-quarters of a chain round the corner he lost sight of one of the boys and saw the hoop being dragged inside the front wheel on the driver’s side. About 7yds further on the boy dropped from underneath the car and the back wheel passed over his back and shoulder. He considered that the car travelled about a chain and a-half after passing over the boy.
To counsel for the driver: The car was still in the act of turning when it struck the boy.
To counsel for the relatives: He heard no signal by the car driver before he made the turn.
James Ure Wallace, a retired farmer, residing in High street, Mosgiel, said he decreased his speed from fifteen to five miles an hour approaching High street. He did not remember sounding his horn, although he gave a hand signal. As his engine was knocking he accelerated to seven miles an hour. He saw the boy and heard his wife call out. Witness was then in the middle of the street. The boy was running towards the car and was in front, slightly towards the right. Witness knew when he struck the boy, and attempted to pull up immediately. He stopped after going a little over a car’s length. The boy was struck by the centre of the front bumpers. He could not say whether the car passed over the boy. When witness got out of the car the boy was lying between two and three yards behind the car.
To counsel for the relatives: It took him 42ft in which to pull up. He was only travelling at seven or eight miles an hour. He had been a licensed driver for seven years. He was seventy-two years of age. The boy must have run off the grass into the car.
Further questioned witness said his car accelerated slowly. The boy seemed to run into the car. He had no chance of avoiding the accident.
Agnes Wallace, wife of the previous witness, said the horses were at least hallway across the intersection when her husband took a wide turn into High street. She saw no children on the road then. She saw the boy only a second before the car struck him. The boy was in the centre of the road then, although the centre, she was positive, was clear when the car turned the corner. The car travelled more than a length before it was pulled up.
Constable Phillips produced a plan of the locality.
The Coroner said there was a clear view from Factory road to the railway line. If the deceased had been bowling his hoop, and was in the position stated by Mr Ruthven and his playmate, or even if he was not in the precise position, a very adequate explanation would be called for from the motorist as to how the accident occurred. In view of the possibility of further proceedings he did not propose to comment on the evidence. A verdict would be returned that death was due to injuries caused by being knocked down by a motor car driven by James Ure Wallace. With regard to the injuries, Mr Ruthven stated that the boy was run over. Mr Shore’s evidence showed that that could not have happened, or his chest would have been crushed. A detailed examination twenty-four hours after death showed that the only marks were bruising of the thigh and a severe abrasion of the left temple. Mr Ruthven’s good faith was not questioned, as he had qualified his evidence by stating that from the distance he was away the boy appeared to be run over. -Evening Star, 4/5/1932.