1930 ACT CONTRAVENED FOR YEARS
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STRONG protests against unfair and illegal competition, the effect of which, if allowed to continue, would be seriously to affect legitimate operators, was made to the West Midland Traffic Commissioners, at Birmingham, last week, when a licence was denied to an applicant who admitted having run an illegal service since the advent of the Road Traffic Act, 1930.
It was stated, on behalf of the applicant, Mr. A. H. Turner, of Langley, Birmingham, that he had been earning his living since 1921 by conveying employees of the Austin Motor Co.. Ltd., to and from their work, and later, workers engaged at a new aero factory at Colton Hackett. Having been con,victed, last month, of operating in contravention of the Act of 1930, by carrying passengers, although he held no licence to do so, he now sought to regularize his activities. He was, said his advocate, one of the first to carry workers to the new aero factory,1 and, actually, the first to run a Sunday
service to Cotton Hackett. It was claimed that, if the service which he was running was withdrawn, his passengers would be compelled to walk a mile and a half to the nearest pickingup point of another service.
Mr. D. E. Skelding, appearing for a number of licensed operators who had lodged objections to the application, told the applicant, during crossexamination, that he was getting a living by continually breaking the law.
" If I withdraw the service," was the reply, "I have got to go on the Dole.''
Mr. Skelding submitted that activities of unlicensed operators, many of which were daily carrying passengers to work in private cars, constituted a serious and increasing menace to the livelihoods of legitimate operators. If all those people now carrying on this illegal work were to .apply for licences to operate " 20-seaters,'" on the grounds that they were already operating, there would soon be nothing left for the present authorized operators.