From the Rolls-Royce experimental archive: a quarter of a million communications from Rolls-Royce, 1906 to 1960's. Documents from the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation (SHRMF).
Statement detailing a road accident and the condition of the other vehicle involved.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 181\M10\ img135 | |
| Date | 26th March 1931 guessed | |
| The R.A.C. and A.A. scouts came up and took measurements of the road, also the police arrived and took a statement of the accident. The tracks on the road shewed that our brakes had been applied hard twenty yards before the crash. In the case of the other car there were no marks to shew that the brakes had been applied with any power. My reason for the cause of the accident is that either the brakes on the other car were useless (it was an old car with rear brakes only and the whole car was in a very poor condition), or else the driver was not looking at the road. There were three people sitting on the front seat of the other car, which included one man who weighed about seventeen stone. It would be difficult under these conditions to see how the driver could have control of the car. The 25 HP. car is now in the Repair Dept. The damage to the other car we could not tell, because it was on its side in the ditch. There were no witnesses except G.W.Hancock, who was driving the Phantom car 24-EX. following about 40 or 50 yds. behind us. The owner of the car is Mr. J.Spear, 396, Saffron Lane, Aylestone, Leicester. We attach herewith his card and also a plan of the road which was sketched out by the R.A.C. guide. If necessary we could make a clearer sketch. The owner said that he was not insured in any way because he was only scraping a living together and could not afford it. Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} | ||