South Yorkshire Times – Saturday 14 August 1943
Swinton Road Accident
Inquest on Denaby Girl
“You will have to be more careful,” said the Doncaster District Coroner (Mr. W. H. Carlile) at an inquest at Mexborough on Tuesday to John Stanley Millwood (17), of 105, Main Street, Mexborough, who was driving a taxi on August 9th near Swinton Station, when a young woman cyclist collided with the taxi and was fatally injured.
The inquest was on Gladys Bentley (23), wife of L/sergt. Fred Bentley, of 58, Tickhill Street, Denaby, and a verdict of “Accidental death” was recorded.
Soldier Husband Recalled
L/sergt. Bentley said he returned from being on leave on Sunday, August 8th, and the following day was informed by telegram of the accident. On the Tuesday he saw his wife unconscious in the Montagu Hospital. She had been riding a bicycle for the last seven years.
Walter Coates, foreman joiner, of 58, Tickhill Street, Denaby, father, said on Monday, August 9th, the girl left home to go to her work as shorthand typist at Rock House, Swinton. He was later informed she had met with an accident, and when he arrived at the hospital she was semi-conscious. She died on Saturday.
Samuel Randles, surveyor, of 29, Park Road, Mexborough, said at about 11.55 a.m. he was standing on the footpath in Station Street, Swinton, on the opposite side of the road to the Station Hotel, when he saw the taxi coming from Mexborough. The driver put out his indicator and made a slow sweep into the station entrance. As the taxi slowly turned across the road, witness saw the cyclist freewheeling downhill about 1½ yards from the kerb. The bicycle struck the front near side of the car, and the rider fell on her back and head.
The Coroner: Was there anything to prevent the driver of the car seeing the cyclist or vice versa?
Witness: No.
Heard No Bell or Hooter Sounded
Witness said if he had been the motorist he would have let the cyclist pass. The taxi pulled up very quickly and was not rushing to get to the station. The cyclist was travelling at a speed at which she could control the bicycle. He never heard the motorist sound his hooter or the cyclist ring her bell.
In reply to questions by Mr. A. H. Jackson (representing the driver and owner of the taxi), witness said he did not notice the taxi driver put his arm out to indicate he was going to turn. He did not think people who had come off a train at Swinton Station were in the roadway to obstruct the driver’s view of the cyclist. The people had crossed the road. He agreed there was nothing to prevent the cyclist seeing the car.
In reply to a question by Mr. S. E. Furey (representing relatives of Mrs. Bentley), witness said he felt the motorist ought to have stopped before turning and the cyclist would then have had the right of way.
Percy Reginald Cooke, special constable, who had joined the queue waiting for a bus outside the station entrance, said the bicycle front wheel struck the left hand front mudguard of the taxi.
In reply to Mr. Jackson, witness said there were no people in the way of the taxi, and in answer to Mr. Furey, he said the cyclist had the right of way.
Florence Boot, of 3, Northgate, Mexborough, who was also in the bus queue, said she heard a crash and a scream and the cyclist was just falling on the pavement backwards when witness turned round. People who had got off a trackless bus were standing on the footpath and the road was clear.
P.C. Hoyle said he found white paint knocked off the bumper bar on the near side of the taxi and a small dent on the near side mudguard. The driver agreed these marks were caused by the impact. The brakes of the taxi and bicycle were in good order. The driver of the taxi was very distressed at the time, and witness interviewed him later in the presence of his father. Father Hinchcliffe, Roman Catholic priest at Denaby, was a passenger in the taxi which was taking him to Swinton Station, where he caught a train for Morecambe and would not return before August 28th.
Efforts to Save Injured Girl
Dr. J. Wilson, surgical officer at the Montagu Hospital, said the cyclist was admitted about 12.45 p.m. and was unconscious. On August 12th Mr. Hardman, a neurological surgeon of Sheffield, thought Mrs. Bentley should undergo an operation to remove blood from her skull. She recovered somewhat as a result of that operation. The following day a further operation was performed because they thought there might be more haemorrhage but none was found. She became worse on Saturday and died at 5 p.m. through laceration of the brain and fracture of the skull.
The taxi driver, John Stanley Millwood, said he had held a motor cycle licence since 1941, got a motor car licence on March 8th this year and since then had been driving a taxi. He was taking Father Hinchcliffe to catch the 12.19 train from Swinton and had plenty of time. It was five minutes to 12 when he was at the station and he was then travelling at 5 m.p.h. He put out his right arm, the taxi indicator, and sounded his hooter as he was about to turn into the station. About five or six people who were crossing the road must have obstructed his view of the cyclist, whom he did not see until she was four or five feet in front of him.
The Coroner: Several people have come here to-day and said there were no people in the road.
Witness: I say there were.
The Coroner: But surely you would see the cyclist in spite of people crossing the road?—No, sir, because it’s on an incline.
Going Very Slowly
Witness said he was going very slowly and when he saw the cyclist he applied his brakes and pulled up in a few feet. He knew he could not avoid an accident and he thought it best to pull up and give her a chance to pull round in front of him.
The Coroner told Millwood that if there were half a dozen people crossing the road it ought not to have prevented him seeing the cyclist. “If there were people crossing the road he was the one to take care.”
In reply to Mr. Jackson, witness said there was nothing to prevent the cyclist pulling up.
Summing up, the Coroner said Millwood seemed to have failed to keep a proper look-out for traffic approaching from Rotherham, and in crossing the road it was his duty to take care and give way to traffic coming along the road against him. In his personal opinion, he did not think taxi cabs should be driven by people 17 years of age, but all knew the difficulties of getting older drivers at present. Any blame in this case was, in his opinion, due to the driver of the car failing to take proper care. It could not be said he was driving recklessly but he failed to keep a proper look-out.