Legislation Which Needs Revision S TATEMENTS made in conference papers, and
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suggestions put forward during chats with people eminent in the transport world, indicate fairly clearly that there is a considerable amount of dissatisfaction with certain aspects of the present legislation.
In the passenger-transport held it has been found that Section 19 of the Road Traffic Act, 19-3o, is weighing too heavily, not only upon the operators, but also upon the personnel. In fact, one transport manager has gone so far as definitely to say that no other requirement has caused so much annoyance to the staff concerned with the actual running of vehicles, and he demanded that the authorities put forward their reasons for believing that any benefits have accrued from this particular part of the Act.
We have every sympathy with the reasonable restriction of hours of driving, so that the men will be prevented from experiencing excessive fatigue and the safety of the public will be enhanced, but it ma.y well be that modifications are desirable, and we suggest that the whole matter should be thrashed out at a conference between the representatives of the road passenger-transport industry and the Ministry, including, of course, representatives of the men concerned.
By No Means a Panacea For All Ills.
The clause naturally applies also to the drivers of vehicles employed for the transport of goods, and due consideration must obviously be riven to this vitally important side of read transport. It is difficult to conceive that equal conditions can possibly be made efficiently to comply with the completely different circumstances prevailing in these two sides of the industry. The passenger side, in particular, has its peculiar problems of spread-over, etc., required to meet the travelling needs of the public.
In the legislation applying to the use and construction of vehicles, there is also aced for certain revisions. It seems ridiculous, for example, that, when a six-wheeled bus is allowed to have a length of 30 ft., the removal of one axle would immedi ately restrict its legal limit of length to 27 ft. 6 ins. Yet modern improvements in design have indicated that a highly efficient vehicle can now be constructed to the longer length and using two axles, without exceeding the limits of axle loading.
This matter is possibly not quite so important where double-saloon types are concerned, but hits especially those operators who, for one reason or another, are compelled to employ single-deckers. It cannot now be a question of one vehicle being less safe to run than another, and it would be an advantage to a great many users if the fourwheeler could be brought into line with the .sixwheeler in this respect.
Larger Vehicles May Mean Less Congestion.
Road congestion is merely increased by the need for employing more buses than would otherwise be required. The important matter of adding to seating capacity is emphasized by the migration of a large proportion of the populace to areas comparatively far from the centres of cities and towns, and where every additional seat means improvement in the comfort of travel and the avoidance of long waits during peak hours.
There is also the important point to consider that every extra passenger assists in avoiding the need for increasing fares to cope with the constantly rising costs of operation, including maintenance, taxation, wages and material.
As we have emphasized in previous articles, the legislation controlling the design of commercial vehicles, of both passenger and goods-carrying types, weighs heavily against our manufacturers when they attempt to produce chassis or complete vehicles for overseas markets. The Government is presumed to be encouraging international trade, and this is one of the important sides to which its consideration should be directed.
It seems to us that some measure of co-ordination in respect of vehicle lengths and widths, axle weights, gross loads and other major factors, as between ourselves and potential buyers abroad, might well have received attention years ago.
The Future of Ticket-printing Machines
THE progress made by ticket-printing machines has not been so satisfactory as was hoped by the producers of such devices, considering the time during which they have been available to operators. At one period, much activity was displayed by inventors, which resulted in the development of several distinctive types, some possessing remarkably ingenious and often practical features.
Apparently, the chief difficulty has been that those which have proved most satisfactory in service are limited in respect of the number of categories of ticket with which they can adequately deal. This is approximately 11, whereas some of the bigger operators, and particularly London Transport, require, for certain services, more than double this figure. There also seem to be difficulties in cases where there is much inter-running, as there may be elements of doubt between the authorities controlling the respective services.
One problem that has arisen is that, with the ordinary ticket system, there has developed, in so many instances, an elaborate statistical scheme, but it may be that this side of control has been overdone. In fact, some critics have stated frankly that managers do not always have the time thoroughly to analyse and digest all the information which is presented to them by the accountancy departments.
That there is truth in this may be judged from the fact that one or two large transport organizations, in which ticket machines are being used exclusively, find that the information obtained from them is adequate to meet practically all essential requirements, particularly if supplemented periodically by a separate check.
Nearly all users of these devices are prepared to admit that they are more rapid than ordinary methods, and thus help to avoid lost fares and per mit conductors to give more time to platform manners. Occasionally they may break down mechanically, but practically never to the extent of not permitting a ticket to be issued in some form. Consequently, it is seldom necessary for ready-printed tickets to be carried.
Improvements are constantly being made, and. at present it seems that the machines should be perfectly satisfactory on most normal routes within their capacity. It is significant to find that, in at least one instance, the total capital cost of the machines used has been covered in three years by the savings effected.
Presumption of Guilt by Court Appearance
MHE ethics of British justice appear to have been contravened by a Scottish magistrate in a case where the driver of a vehicle was concerned. The official in question, who, in Scotland, is known as a police judge, which roughly corresponds to what we in England would term a stipendiary magistrate, declared in court that he did not care how many witnesses might appear in favour of a motorist charged with an offence—the motorist must be guilty, otherwise he would not appear in court.
This, unfortunately, appears to be the attitude in quite a number of cases where motor drivers are concerned. The mere fact of an appearance is far too often considered as at least a presumption of guilt It is for this reason that, on receipt of summonses for driving and technical offences, so many people are advised by their friends that it is better to plead guilty than to risk a heavier penalty through their having the temerity to endeavour to uphold their innocence.
In the particular case to which we refer, the evidence of four independent witnesses was ignored and that of two police officers accepted.