Road Transport Topics
Page 63
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In Parliament
By Our Special Pa rl i arnent a ry Correspondent
SUGGESTED ABOLITION OF ROAD FUND. .
THERE is definitely a section of opinion in the House of Commons
against the separate existence of the Road Fund. Repeated raids have encouraged this attitude of mind. In the Budget discussion, last week, two members went out boldly for its abolition, though the subject was ignored in the Government replies.
Captain Waterhouse suggested that the Road Fund was 'merely an invitation to any Minister and to any local
authority. to .spend. The May Committee had said that the Fund should be abolished,and if the Chan-mile'r'. of the Exchequer would take his courage' in his hands, and brave. the indignation of the Minister of . Transport,: he thought he would receive the thanks of the House as a whole.
The other critic was Mr. McCorquo
dale, who said be disliked the raid on the Fund and would much rather that the Chancellor would abolish the Fund
altogether. It was an anachronism that they should have this speciat taxation of one kind for one specific object,' All the taxation in the ideal State, he contended, should go into the common pool and be used as it was required. He hoped that next year the Chancellor would abolish the Road Fund and absorb the money into the general Exchequer.
NO VARIATION ORDERS FOR C-LICENCE HOLDERS.
THE .Minister of Transport was asked by Lieut.-Col. Acland-Troyte whether anydanger was caused to the public owing to the Variation Order granted to C-licence holders in 1931, and, if not, whether he would reconsider his decision to refuse such orders
in future. He also asked why the Minister did not feel justified in granting an application, and in what way it would depart from the principle of Section 19 of the Act of 1980, in vieiv of the fact that an order was granted under this Section in 1931.
Captain Hudson, who replied, said the Minister carefully considered this matter before coming to the decision that he was not justified in making an order, the effect of which would be substantially to relax the requirements of Section 19 of the Act of 1930 in favour of drivers of all goods vehicles.
Whilst he could not point to particular accidents which could be said to be due to the Variation Order granted in 1931, which expired two years ago, over-fatigue was a potential source of danger on the roads, and in the present circumstances hecould not take the view that a wholesale extension of driving hours, such as was recently Sought, would not be likely to be detrimental to the public safety. TRAFFIC DELAY AT BUS TURNINGS.
ATTENTION having been called to the practice of buses in London ending a route in front of traffic lights, and then, when the lights show green, turning across the street to return on the other side, with the result that other traffic is held up, the lights changing back to red before it can move, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport stated that arrangements would be made which would remove the existing difficulties. Special reference was made to the conditions at the bottom of Putney Hill.
PETROLEUM PRODUCTION LICENCES AND ROYALTIES.
UPON the question of the duration of the undertaking, to be .given by the Treasury to licensees under the Petroleum Act, that the royalties will never be more than Os. per ton, Dr. Burgin, Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade, stated that the provision regarding the maximum rate of royalty on crude oil was contained in the clause entitled " Provision for Periodical Revision of Royalties,' on page la of the Model Clauses scheduled to the Petroleum (Production) Regulations, 1935.
A clause of this kind incorporated in any oil-mining licence granted under the Regulations.would represent a firm contract as between the Board of Trade and the licensee. If at any future time new or modified 'regulations were made, their provisions would, of course, apply to anynew licences granted after the date such regulations came into force, but would not affect the terms of any licence previously granted.
FORCING THE SMALL MAN OFF THE ROAD.
THE attention of the Minister was drawn by Major-General Sir Alfred Knox to the case of Mr. R. Yearsley, 44, Salisbury Avenue, Farnham Road, Slough, who, he said, was formerly engaged in road transport work, discontinued such work in 1933 owing to illhealth, and had now been refused a carrier's licence by the licensing authority for the Metropolitan area on the ground of redundancy, his application being opposed by the Great Western Railway Co. and Carter Paterson and Co., Ltd. He asked whether steps would be taken to ensure that this man was not deprived of the possibility of earning his living.
Mr. Hore-Belisha said the Act provided for an appeal by an applicant who was aggrieved by the decision of
the authority. Sir A. Knox asked if there were no relief for this man who had been deprived of his employment owing to the opposition of these two important concerns and was now in receipt of unemployment benefitn This' man had already appealed unsuccessfully. Had he no further means for • obtaining redress?
The Minister said the Member now appeared to be calling in question the findings of the appeal tribunal, which was set up by Parliament. He had no jurisdiction to intervene after the proper hearing of the case. Sir A. Knox asked if there were no means for upsetting a decision like this, which really meant forcing all the small men oft the roads in favour of big concerns.
The reply was that this tribunal was set up by a decision of Parliament and he had no power to override a decision of Parliament.' Mr. HoRlSworth suggested that the Minister should take steps to amend the legislation which. allowed this sort of thing.
DECREASE IN ROAD ACCIDENTS.
THE suggestion by Lieut.-Col. J.' T. C. Moore-Brabizon, that casualties had increased upon the roads in built-up areas and that the 30 m.p.h. limit should be repealed, was controverted by Mr. Bore-Belisha, who said the Member was mistaken.
Since the introduction of the 30 m.p.h. limit there had been a considerable reduction in the number of casualties despite an increase of over 220,000 in the number of vehicles. The only recent weeks in which casualties had shown an increase were Easter week and Jubilee week, in both of which the increases occurred in the county police areas, whereas in the Metropolitan, City and Borough police areas, where the limit applied, there were reductions.
REDUCTION DUE TO 30-M.P.H. LIMIT.
THE following figures were also given by the Minister :---For the eight weeks ended on May II, 1935, during which the 30 m.p.h. limit has been in operation, 153 fewer persons have died and 2,699 fewer have been injured, as a result of road accidents, than in the corresponding weeks of last year. These represent reductions of 15.3 per cent. and 8.3 per cent, respectively, in a period when the number of motor vehicles licensed increased by over 12. per cent. The Metropolitan, City and Borough Police areas account for over 75 per cent. of the reduction in deaths, and over 90 per cent. of the reduction in injuries.
Another statement was that during the nine weeks ended May 18, 77 fewer persons had died and 1,578 fewer persons had been injured in London than in the corresponding weeks of last year, namely reductions of 82 per cent. and 15.5 per cent. respectively.
CYCLISTS APPROVE TRACKS. -r-rE use of cycle tracks on arterial 'I roads is optional, but, according to the Minister of Transport, over 84 per cent, of all cyclists traversing Western Avenue used the tracks.