C.M.U.A. and L.D.R.H.A. Discuss the Act
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T AST Tuesday there was a confer
ence of the Commercial Motor Users Association, which was followed by a luncheon, at which the members of this Association and those of the Long Distance Road Haulage Association were the guests of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.
Mr. Bristow's paper was full of interest. It was written with the intention of focusing attention on some of the provisions of the Road Traffic Act, 1930, which are of special importance to commercial-motor users, with the, ultimate object of co-ordinating the views of operators so that concerted efforts may be made to seenre amendments to those provisions which are not functioning in the best interests of the road-transport industry.
Mr. Bristow pointed out that it is a young and growing industry which has not yet passed through the development stage and which should, so far as possible, be left free and untrammelled.
It is encouraging, said Mr. Bristow, to find that traffic experts, after observation'alt over the country, have come to the following definite conclusions :—(a) The abolition of the speed limit for motorcars has not resulted in any increase in general driving speeds; (b) drivers of coaches are showing greater consideration for other users of the highway ; (c) the general standard of driving, courtesy, and road sense shows an appreciable improvement ;
(d) more caution is being exercised at corners and cross-roads ; (e) drivers give signals more frequently and clearly ; (0 white lines are being treated with greater respect; (g) all
road users are responding to the appeal to make the roads safe for all.
As regards speed limits, the comparatively low speeds retained in the case of commercial-motor vehicles are already creating difficulties. If the efficient and economic operation of road transport is not to be seriously restricted, immediate steps must be taken to secure amendments to the speed schedule, and Mr. Bristow suggested the following increases:—(a) Goods vehicles generally : An increase (for those fitted with pneumatic tyres) from 20 m.p.h. for heavy motorcars and 30 m.p.h. for motorcars, to 35 m.p.h. In the case of a pneumatic-tyred vehicle drawing a trailer on pneumatics, and of a heavy motorcar with soft or elastic tyres, the increase suggested is from 16 m.p.h. to 20 m.p.h.
(b) Goods vehicles drawing trailers with soft tyres: The suggested increase is from 8 m.p.h. to 16 m.p.h. It is impossible for vehicles to proceed through towns in traffic at 8 m.p.h, without creating considerable congestion.
(c) Articulated vehicles : The recommended increaSe is from 16 m.p.h. to 20 m.p.h.
(d) Coaches and buses : The suggested increase is from 80 m.p.h. to 35 m.p.h., the latter being recommended by the Royal Commission on Transport.
As regards the limitation of drivers' hours, rigid working conditions are possible in certain industries, hut road transport, in order to function successfully in the interests of those industries which it fertilizes, cannot conform to such conditions. Compulsory insurance against thirdparty risks is working smoothly. Several points have been cleared up recently, such as cases where, through inadvertence, a driver had failed to renew his driving licence, or where a person who had given a tow to a brokendown motor vehicle became uninsured against third-party risks.
With reference to police activities, Mr. Bristow pointed out that although a person driving a motor vehicle must stop if so required by a policeman in uniform, those not in uniform or private persons have no authority to require a driver to stop.
The question of transporting abnormal indivisible loads is a very difficult one. Present regulations required four clear days' notice to be given to every highway authority and every bridge authority in the districts traversed, and this, for comparatively short distances, might involve 30 or 40 separate notifications.
A difficulty existed as to the question of an attendant additional to the driver when a tractor is drawing a trailer. Exemption has already been made where the trailer is especially constructed and used for the conveyance of meat, but such exemption should be made of more general application.
Dealing with public-service vehicles, Mr. Bristow gave credit to the extremely difficult work being performed by the Traffic Commissioners. Ho pointed out that 87 per cent. of applications for road-service licences and backings had been granted, 7 per cent. Was' withdrawn and only 6 per cent. was refused, and lie was of the opinion that most of the members of the C.M.U.A. would also have refused these applicationsif they had been in a similar position.
He referred to the need for curtailing conditions attached to road-service licences, and to the urgent necessity of co-ordinating these conditions as between the respective Commissioners.
In the discussion which followed, Mr. C. le M. Gosselin said he was of the opinion that section 19 involved workmen in performing 12 hours' work to obtain 10 hours' pay, as the result of splitting the work into sections. On the goods side one effect of this section is that the majority of users endeavours to comply, but it is almost impossible to reach the 100 per cent. standard. The new Minister of Transport, as a business man, ought to examine most carefully this question of the hours of work.
One serious effect of the Use and Construction Regulations was that the minds of makers of motor vehicles are concentrated on meeting the requirements of the Ministry of Transport instead of meeting those of users. It LS very urgent that the requirements of the export industry should be considered. Decisions for the home market are bound to affect the character of design in a manner which may seriously affect our export trade. One maker had told him that the difficulties of obtaining a "type approval" were so great that having once secured it he would not dare to change a split-pin.
Mr. W. H. Gaunt, of J. Lyons and Co., Ltd., said that the main effects of the Act were not insufferable considering the circumstances, but the commercial-vehicle driver gets full attention from the mobile police who give little to the private driver. The combination of reduced limits of speed and reduced hours has resulted in his company diverting certain traffic to the railways. The average earning capacity of the men had been reduced by from 85. to 15s. per week as a consequence of loss of overtime, but this was not unwholesome as the wages were now spread over a larger number of people.
He thought that low speed limits caused more traffic congestion, and there should not be any invidious distinction between the speeds for goods and passenger transport.
Mr. Howard Robinson emphasized the need for doing everything possible to obtain amendments to the speed limits. The penalties under the Act for careless or dangerous driving were sufficient de terrents. On the whole, the Traffic Commissioners were doing very well with a difficult job, but one of the greatest difficulties was the opposition of the railway companies, the policy of which was not constructive, but obvio-usly planned to cut out road operators and force traffic on to the rail. The Traffic Commissioners, he said, had no control over fares charged by the railways, who could advertise excursions at any price, and yet the railways were always pressing for fares to be fixed in connection with road
transport. Thesame old arguments were advanced at every hearing of the Traffic Commissioners, who gave the railways too much rope.
Mr. G.E. Nixon, of Leyland Motors, Ltd., put in a plea for the permissible vehicle width to be dnereased tot§ ft. This was the standard.secognized in every other country in the world, and it was a great drawback to have to build to a standard of 7 ft. 6 ins, for the home market and alter it for export. He suggested that where vehicles were fitted with pneumatic tyres there was no need for restrictions on the load carried, as overloading would automatically become too expensive. He could not see why a six-wheeled passenger vehicle should be allowed to be any longer than a four-wheeler. Mr. E. C. Marston, of ma.s., Ltd., said that the regulations were so severe that the carriage of abnormal traffic by road had been put. back by at least 10 years. Legally a Lancashire boiler of fair size cannot be carried. No provision had been made for the articulated vehicle to carry heavy loads.
It was, he said, impossible to work to the restricted hours with abnormal traffic. Loads cannot be left on the road, and it is often practically impossible to find sites for them elsewhere.
Mr. A. C. Norman, of Brighton, said that the limitation of hours caused rigidity which was irksome and expensive. He had found that wages were increased almost 100 per cent., and the total transport costs by 15 per cent.