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IN PARLIAMENT
By Our Special Parliamentary Correspondent
Road and Rail Traffic Bill in Committee
New Clauses Considered.
AT the 14th sitting of the Standing Committee on the Road and Rail Traffic Bill, the consideration of the clauses of the Bill as drafted was concluded, and discussion of .proposed new clauses commenced.
A number of amendments relating to agreed charges by the railways was withdrawn or negatived, and elm 'Government amendment was agreed to, Providing that any port or harbour authority, dock company, or authority owning and working docks which should have reason to believe that any railway company was, by an agreed charge, placing its port, docks or harbour at a disadvantage compared with others, could make a complaint to the Railway and Canal Comniis.sioners.
Advice on Accidents.
rIN Clause 36, which sets up the 1,—"Transport Advisory Council, Mr. Guy moved an amendment whereby the council should give advice to the Minister in regard to the prevention of accidents by road and rail. Col. Headlam pointed out that the words were unnecessary, as one of the functions of a Minister of Transport was to look after the safety of the travelling public. The amendment was withdrawn.
On the motion of Mr. Stanley, the words indicating that the council is to consist of no fewer than 22 or more . than !Z members were omitted. Mr. Stanley said it was not necessary to state the number as he was allowed to appoint only the representatives mentioned in the schedule, plus three extra people, and the committee would be free to diseuse the representation: therein without being tied to any number. It was provided that the council should be appointed by the Minister.
Hours for Rest.
T. SMITH brought references allieew a s to hours for rest contained in paragraph 3 of Sub-section 1, Section 19, of the Road Traffic Act, 1930, shall be deemed to mean hours for rest away from the vehicle. The section, he said, laid it down definitely that the driver must have at least 10 consecutive hours' complete rest in any period of 24 hours. In practice it appeared that a number of employers was circumventing Section 19 by, in some cases, having two drivers, one driving and the other resting. They understood, also. that the practice of providing a bunk in the driver's cab was growing. The pro
vision should be such that rest could be taken away from the vehicle.
Mr. Stanley said that, whilst sympathizing with the object of the new clause, the expression "away from the vehicle" would still give opportunity for evading 'the provisions. If a man stopped hislorry by the side of the road, he might be breaking the law if he remained inside the lorry, but if ha chose to get out and go into a field or sleep under the hedge he would not be breaking the law. That sort of difficulty would arise .whatever drafting they adopted. It seemed that, what they bad to concentrate on was to see that the 10-hour period was really put into force. He hoped that the better enforcement of the existing law by itself would mean doing away with the abuses.
Resting on a Moving Vehicle.
MR. G. HALL contended that no driver charged with the responsibility of driving heavy lorries on congested roads should spend his rest time on a moving vehicle. He asked the . Minister to look into the matter, about which the workmen were very much
concerned. .
Mr. Stanley agreed that if a practice was growing up within the law they ought most earnestly to see whether it could be prevented. Be .would like in'formation as tothe cases mentioned. The new clause was then withdrawn.
Drivers' Licences.
A/fR. G. HALT. moved a new clause j.I.L.With regard to conditions for the issue of drivers' licences. Be said they were concerned abont the fact that there was tie provision giving the right to license the drivers. There was no reason for not having the safeguards in regard to drivers of goods vehicles which were laid down for passenger vehicles. Mr. Stanley said that on the question of detail, the limitationof the licenee to somebody over 21 was too big a restriction. It was already provided that no one under 21 was allowed to drive a heavy type of vehicle, but he saw no reason why he should not drive the lighter type of goods van. On the general question of principle, he pointed out that the analogy to the goods vehicles was not the passenger vehicle but the private motorcar. In the case of the passenger vehicle, the driver, besides the danger to the general public, had a special responsibility for perhaps :10 or 40 people behind him, whilst the goods vehicle and the private vehicle had the same obligations towards other users of the roads. Analysis of Accident Figures.
.-E_TE awaited the analysis of accidents .1.1which was now being carried out If he was convinced from these statistics that a licensing system was desirable in the interests of public safety, be would have no hesitation in 'comingto the House and asking for powers extending over the whole range of motor driving. On a division the proposed new clause was rejected by rr votes to 9.
Varying Drivers' Hours.
AirR. PARKINSON moved a new .131.clause, whereby the power conferred on the Minister under Section 19 of the Road Traffic Act may be varied according to requirements, and should include power to vary the periods of time in accordance with any agreement arrived at between employers and organizations representative of workpeople in the industry. Mr. Parkinson said the problem was a very difficult one for employers and workmen, because they had to vary the hours of labour so as knot to break the conditions of the Act. It might be said that the trade unions ;would have too marl power, but he did not think so, because all they were asking for was that there should be agreement between the two parts of the industry, and that such -agreements should be endorsed by the Minister.
Flexibility Not Desirable.
1,TR. STANLEY said he could not ;11possibly accept the clause because it would destroy the provisions as to 'hours. The effect of it would be that they would have, up and down the country, different variations of these statutory limits, and no one would know with certainty what variations of thee applied to a particular man. It would make the task of the examiners in trying to enforce this provision a hopeless one. He proposed to accept another clause later on which dealt with this matter. Mr. Parkinson's proposed clean was then negatived.
Joint Applications Opposed.
IABANE then moved a new ,LKILclause for the amendment of -Subsection 3 of Section 19 of the Road Traffic Act, 1930, whereby the Minister may, on an application by any organization representative of employers or workpeople in the industry (instead of a joint application by organizations representative of employers and workpeople) such as the Minister of Labour might certify to be a, proper body to make an application with regard to variation of periods of time, issue an order to vary the periods of time. In practice, Mr. Mebane said, the joint application had not worked quite so -well. He pointed to the danger of one side saying to the other "we will join with you in making this further application for variation only on condition that you do something else." In other words, they were held to ransom before they could get the consent of the other side.
Mr. G. Hall spoke against the new clause.
To Prevent Obstruction.
TR. STANLEY said he wanted to _i_V_Lprevent it being in the poorer of either side to prevent the application for the variation of hours even being heard by the Industrial Court upon grounds which might be quite unconnected with the subject matter of the application. If there were any difference between employers and employed on this question, the proper way to deal with it was not by withdrawing any power for an application to be made, but by giving to the other party the right of objecting before the Industrial Court. The new clause was carried by 25 votes to 3.
The Committee Stage Concluded.
THE committee finished, on Tuesday, its work on the Bill and ordered it to be reported to the House as amended. The report and third-reading stages will be taken next week, and the Bill will be passed through the House of Lords in November, before the prorogation. The Committee has held 15 sittings and considered 605 amendments, and members without exception have been impressed with the skill with which Mr. Oliver Stanley, the Minister of Transport, has piloted the Bill and his extraordinary grasp of the complex details with which he had to deal in the discussions.
The principal subject under consideration on the last day of the Committee proceedings was the schedule giving the composition of the Transport Advisory Council, consisting of 22 representatives of various interests. On an amendment moved by Colonel Heneage to increase the representation of local authorities in England and Wales from three to five, Mr. Stanley asked members who had given notice of amendments regarding this and other classes of representatives to state the reasons for their proposed alteration, and at a later stage he would propose such modifications as might be thought fit. This course was accepted by the Committee. The amendment was then withdrawn.
One amendment was, however, agreed to, making it clear that the canal and harbour and dock authorities represented on the Committee should be "-otherwise than railway-controlled or owned."
The Committee stage concluded with a compliment to the Minister from Mr. Parkinson regarding the courteous and able manner in which the Bill had been conducted.
Slow-moving Vehicles.
THE danger caused on main arterial roads awl by-passes at week-ends by motorists crawling at low speeds in the middle of the road was referred to by Mr. Reiner, when he asked the Home Secretary whether he would instruct the mobile police to see that motorists who desired to drive at slow speeds should keep as near the kerb as possible. Mr. Hacking replied that the motor patrols in the Metropolitan Police district had full instructions as to how to deal with offences and acts which impeded the free flow of traffic, and in particular they had been instructed to Call attention to, and to check, preferably on the spot, acts which, although they did not amount to offences for which proceedings could be taken, yet impeded the flow of traffic or were calculated to interfere with the safety or convenience of other road users. The matter had also -been dealt with in Home Office circulars to chief officers of police outside the Metropolitan area, and the instructions, issued to police officers on the basis of such circulars, were thought to be a sufficient measure: Restricted Roads.
THE Minister of Transport informed Mr. Llewellyn-Jones that since December 1, 1930, 80 orders had been
made on the application of councils to which Section 46 of the Road Traffic Act, 1930, applied for restrictiug the use of vehicles on specified roads.
Compulsory Use of Stop Lights.
rAN a suggestion as to the advisa bility of introducing early legislation to compel vehicles to carry automatic stop lights controlled by the foot brake Mr. Stanley said the Departmental Committee on Traffic Signs did not recommend that the use of stop lights should be made compulsory, and he was not disposed to disagree with its conclusions on this point.
L. litation of Compensation.
MR. STANLEY formally presented a Bill to restrict the application of the provision of iSection 1_16 of the Road Traffic Act, 1930, to loss arising by reason of the repeal by the said Act of provisions relating to the licensing of public-service vehicles by lace' authorities. The section deals With compensation to officers of local authorities affected by the passing of the Road Traffic Act.
. We are informed that the Bill is designed to remove certain administrative difficulties due to an omission in drafting the Bill of 1930.