Frank McGann - Road death

Showing the Captain Cook Hotel on northern side of Khyber Pass,
with Hancock and Company, Maltsers (also known as the Captain Cook Brewery)
 to the right. Sir George Grey Special Collections, 
Auckland Libraries, 4-RIC52

Frank McGann, an elderly gentleman of 75 years of age, was crossing the road by the Captain Cook Hotel on Khyber Pass Road in the City, when he inadvertently stepped into the path of a taxi cab. The driver noticed him when he was little more than a car length away, and immediately swerved the car to the right to try and avoid hitting the man. Regretfully the splashboard caught Mr McGann on the leg and he was knocked down and “carried by the front of the car for about 28ft…”

The taxi driver, Mr Charles Hunt, stopped the car and tried to render assistance whilst shouting for help. Mr McGann was found to be still breathing, but unconscious.

The police arrived at the scene, and soon after Dr. Williams of Remuera Road, but Mr McGann had died before his arrival and the Doctor could only pronounce life to be extinct.

The victim of the accident had last been seen going down Khyber Pass Road, and was thought to be returning home with a few groceries when he was hit. Mr McGann was a widower, and understood to be a little hard of hearing. He had lived in Mountain Road near the old quarry, and had been well known in the area as was one of the few surviving stonebreakers.

An inquest was held, and the Court heard from the taxi driver, Mr Hunt, and a number of witnesses, including passengers in the taxi at the time of the accident.

Mr Hunt, who had the reputation of being a careful driver, said he had been travelling at a slow “eight to ten miles an hour” at the time of the accident. Mr Hunt said that he “was keeping a good look out” and his taxi lights were said to cast a bright beam straight ahead, although the sides of the road in total darkness. Mr Hunt had first seen Mr McGann when he appeared directly in front of the car, about a yard away and he “did everything possible to avoid colliding with the old man”.

A number of witnesses attested to the accident spot being “very dark and badly lighted”. The road was being repaired near the accident spot and a pile of metal lay in the middle of the roadway with only “lighted hurricane lamps ….to act as warning signals”.

The Court also heard that this was “the identical spot where the man Ballan was knocked down by a motor car and killed by a passing tramcar just a few weeks ago”

The death of Mr McGann was found to be accidental, the deceased had crossed the road on an angle, with his face averted to the oncoming car and the driver had done all he could to avert the accident. The jury returned a verdict to the effect that Frank McGann met his death by being struck by a motor-car in Khyber Pass. They considered that all possible care had been taken to avoid the accident, and therefore they exonerated the driver of the car from all blame.

A rider was added that more lights should be placed in the vicinity.

Roman Catholic Division C, Row 2,
Plot 42a: Francis (Frank) McGann (75) 1913 – unmarked

Sources:
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/
KNOCKED DOWN BY MOTOR. New Zealand Herald, Volume L, Issue 15241, 3 March 1913
KILLED IN KHYBER PASS. New Zealand Herald, Volume L, Issue 15249, 12 March 1913
KILLED BY A TAXI. Auckland Star, Volume XLIV, Issue 53, 3 March 1913
Image: Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 4-RIC52

Presented by Susan Reid, Discover Waikumete