The Persecution of Drivers
Page 51
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More Views on a Subject of Vital Interest to the Industry
A RECORD OF PAST DRIVING MISDEEDS UNDULY PREJUDICES MAGISTRATES.
BEING a regular reader of your journal, I sin in
terested in the letters you published in your issue dated March 8. I am a coach and haulage contractor and have been persecuted ever since I first held a licence in 19213. Every time that I appear my long list of convictions is read out and before the court has heard the end, whether I am guilty or not, with the help of the clerk to the court, the Bench have Made up their minds.
My latest experience was to have a police barrier placed across the road to stop the coach I was driving.
Why this procedure was adopted was because the public-carriage officers, disguised as navvies, who tried to get on the coach to pay fares, failed to do so. When I ordered them off the coach they followed close behind. in a ear, supplied by the ratepayers, to where I was taking some men to work. They had four policemen put across the road to stop me, so that they could third-degree the passengers on the coach. They also had an inspector with' them.
The police Were not satisfied with that; they followed me tor 30 miles, and when I arrived back at my starting point on the main road three hours later they proceeded to try to shake the coach to pieces, but they failed to find any fault.
I am still waiting to hear front them, as they said that I would be summoned under Section 25-26 of the Road Traffic Act. I ani British, and proud of it ; willing to serve King and country again if 'called upon to do so, but not if I am to be stopped from earning an honest living.
I hope that you will publish this letter, as there are still some more like myself trying to live by their own hands. if I am stopped, the Government will have to keep my drivers and myself.
Loudon, E.G. W. W. GREW.
THE OTHER SIDE—BY A MOBILE POLICE OFFICER.
I AM a mobile police officer and I was transferred to I the road patrol branch of a large northern county police force.early in 1930.
I read the letter' of "C Licence," published in your issue dated March 1, and it is typical of such " onetrack " minds. According to him, all mobile officers are Sc'atans on wheels and all commercial drivers are innocent men getting the lash of the law, to make "cases." lie refers to us as " slinkers " lying in wait in side lanes to trap the unwary driver.
I am not denying that many mobile officers, including myself, do wait in such lanes; this is very necessary, in order to detect speeding offences.
Assuming that instead of using this method of detecting such offences we were to make ourselves conspicuous on the roads, how many cases of speeding would be taken before the magistrates? Not many, I assure you ; after all, it is part of the game, and no seusible person would put a bell round a cat's neck to catch mice. The logical answer to this question is—Do not speed, and you cannot be caught.
It may be a surprise to "C Licence" to know that many of the complaints made to the police regarding excessive speeds of commercial vehicles originate from other commercial drivers and that this kind of "dog eat dog" has been going on ever since the Road Traffic Act, 1930, came into force.
I am stationed in a busy industrial district, and, therefore, am in close touch with commercial drivers and vehicles. I have no complaint against the drivers themselves ; in fact, I admire their self-restraint and sporting spirit when being reported for offences, but the conduct of their employers and the condition of the vehicles often leave much to be desired, It is no uncommon occurrence to find a 2-ton lorry carrying a load of anything from four tons to eight tons of sand, gravel or steel, and equipped with brakes which would disgrace a 7-cwt. van, Most of the cases of inefficient brakes that I have had to report have been caused by sheer neglect to adjust them on the part of the drivers. I have no sympathy with this offence, for which there can be no excuse.
A few days ago I gave the driver of a 2-ton lorry a signal to stop, and he did so after travelling a distance of no less than 120 yds. with both brakes applied; the lorry was carrying a load of eight tons of bricks, and, by way of explanation the driver said that the brakes were like that only when he had a load on!
Another case fresh in my mind is a glaring one of speeding that I reported a short time ago. The offender was driving a 7-ton six-wheeled lorry on a road 18 ft. wide at a speed varying from 34 m.p.h. to 44 m.p.h. The load consisted of carboys of carbolic acid, which were rocking in an alarming manner as the lorry swung from one side of the road to the other. What chance does an approaching driver have against such a lorry as this one when meeting it on a blind bend? Not much; I know that from experience.
I have plenty of sympathy for the driver of a light lorry or van who is reported for speeding when he has been exceeding the limit by only a few miles per hour on a straight road, but there are others!
A point I would like to clear up is that', about "cases." Most transport drivers appear to be ready to believe that a mobile officer must show a certain number of cases each week. Nothing could be farther from the truth; it makes no difference to his job whether he gets any case or not ; some men are "keen," others are not; they all obtain the same consideration from their superiors and no man has ever been removed from the road-patrol section of our force for failing to report cases.
I am one of those officers whom the local drivers consider "keen," and I intend to remain so as long as I find inefficient brakes, defective tyres, " scrap-yard " lorries and 7-tonners doing 44 m.p.h. on narrow roads.
My advice is: Respect the speed limits, keep your vehicle in good condition, your brakes adjusted, your lights good, your number plates clean, and your records up to date. Above all, keep a civil tongue in your head ; many a driver has turned a " caution " into a summons as the result of a cheeky answer.
Yorks. Monica. [We welcome this letter and the good advice given, realizing that there are good and bad sheep in every flock.—En.]