ON THE WAY TO BE REGISTERED.
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IN OUR last issue we dealt with recent decisions by Lancashire magistrates who had fined drivers of unregistered motor vehicles for the absence of number plates on their vehicles for which temporary exemption was claimed on the ground that the vehicles were being delivered to an agent or customer, and, therefore, were permitted to bear the mystic sign " On the Way to be Registered." We showed that there was considerable confusion in the minds of manufacturers in consequence of these decisions. We have now received a communication from Col. A. Hacking, D.S.O., secretary of the Motor Legislation Committee—perhaps one of the best authorities on such matters—in which he says:
" Your leader in to-day's issue on the above subject shows there is still some misapprehension as to the effect of the Roads Act, and the regulations made thereunder, in the case of motor vehicles being driven to registration authorities for registration. " The position is really quite clear. "(1) Trade number pletes may be used for the purpose.
"(2) A customer taking delivery of a vehicle at the manufacturer's or agent's premises may drive C2
such vehicle to his own registration authority for the purpose of registration without any number plates.
"A purchaser, for instance, living at John o' Groats may take delivery of a motor vehicle from an agent at Land's End and drive it without any number plate to the North of Scotland for registration.
"The decisions of the magistrate in one or two case's have been that an unregistered vehicle may not be driven without a trade plate from a manufacturer's premises to an agent's premises, or even to a customer's garage, when there is no immediate intention to register it. "It is becoming rather common to see on the road vehicles bearing the cryptic sign 'For Registration Only.' As the Motor Legislation Committee were responsible for the proviso contained in Section 6 (2) Roads Act, 1920, I can only repeat that advantage may only be taken of this proviso. (1) If the owner has had no responsible opportunity to register. " (2) If the vehicle is, in fact, being driven to a registration authority for registration."