More Injustice to Drivers
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WE are glad to see that the motoring correspondent of the Daily Express has taken up the cause of the lorry driver, and we would wish that other papers would see fit to ventilate the grievances of a muchharassed and long-suffering but eminently useful and hard-working member of the community. In the main, the correspondent in question deals with the injustice of silent traps, where the driver is not warned that he is exceeding a speed limit until he receives a summons. He, therefore, has no opportunity of checking the stop watches, or means for obtaining evidence in his favour, and has, often, forgotten even the district where the alleged offence was committed.
Britain Losing Its Reputation.
There are, however, other aspects of injustice which should • receive just as much attention. Drivers of commercial vehicles are being fined out o t all proportion to their earnings and to the magnitude of the offences committed. We are not going too far in saying that there are instances of vindictive feeling amongst magistrates, possibly against motorists as a whole, but particularly directed against the man who is earning his living at the wheel. Great Britain has earned a name throughout the world for the fair play accorded and the justice obtainable in most of its courts, but it is rapidly losing this reputation in face of its attitude towards the motoring public.
The Hardships of Licence Suspension.
In our correspondence columns of this issue will be found a letter from a driver, who, in the course of eight years at thp wheel of a lorry, was summoned a few days ago for the first time (except for a minor offence in connection with a motorcycle about three years ago) for driving without due care and attention. The facts were that, owing to a slight error of judgment, he collided with a private car, as a result ot which the driving mirror of the car was broken and the hood slightly torn, a settlement of the damage being made before the case was brought. The fine was not, perhaps, excessive, being lOs. with 8s. costs, but the important point to this driver was that his licence was suspended for a month, thereby automatically additionally fining him a month's wages and, in all likelihood, causing him to lose his position.
Throwing Families on the Dole.
We believe that we cannot throw more emphasis upon the importance Of this suspension than to quote his own words : " I am a married man with one child, and being suddenly placed in this position of possibly joining the workless has cast a gloom over what was a happy little family." This is but one instance of hundreds that are occurring daily.
How many magistrates give this point their consideration? In glibly punishing worthy men by the suspension of their licences they are casting gloom over many families, adding skilled men to the ranks of the unemployed, and creating a state of dissatisfaction in one of the largest industries of the country. The matter is one that should not be glossed over.
Breaking the Spirit of Drivers.
Apart from the numerous appeals and complaints that we receive from drivers, many of the employers have told us how the spirit of their men is being broken and their own business affected. These estimable carriers do all that they can to promote the welfare of their staff and often pay wages in excess of the minimum required, yet their efforts in this direction are undermined by the anti-motoring spirit which appears to permeate so many of our so-called courts of justice.
Falsifying Records Is Perjury
EVERY operator of goods vehicles should pay the utmost attention to the correctness of the records which must be kept in connection with his vehicles, whether he be operating under an A, B or C licence.
This point, was emphasized recently at the Stoke Stipendiary Court, when the prosecutor, on behalf of the West Midland Area Licensing Authority, stated that he had been instructed by the Authority to say that the way in which records are being kept, and the minner in which the law is being disregarded, is a matter causing grave concern to the Authority.
The keeping of incorrect records is now an indictable offence and amounts to perjury within the provisions of the Perjury Act of 1916. An insertion in a record kept pursuant to Act of Parliament, whether on oath or not, where incorrect and untrue to the knowledge of the person who makes it, is' now perjury. If the practice of keeping incorrect records be carried on, the Licensing Authority will have no alternative but to prosecute.
There is little doubt that this attitude will not be restricted to the particular Authority mentioned, and where the employer can be proved to have encouraged the falsifying of records, the penalty will certainly be one of considerable severity. It is not sufficient for the employer to remain passive and merely to file records without taking steps to verify them.
Complaints have been received from drivers that they ha,ve been discharged for refusing to work more than the legal hours or for not working to schedules which would involve frequently exceeding the speed limit. No sympathy should be accorded to vehicle owners who are proved to have acted in such a manner, for they are deliberately inciting their employees to break the law and, consequently, render themselves liable to heavy penalties, apart from causing considerable risk to other users of the road. The number of employers of this type is, fortunately, rapidly decreasing, and action will sooner or later be taken against the remainder.
Noisy Vehicles to be 'Banned?
THAT, as from August 1, 1936, it should be I illegal to sell a motorcycle, motorcar, heavy motorcar or motor tractor for home use if it causes more than a prescribed degree of noise, has been recommended to the Minister of Transport by a Departmental Committee.
At a speed of 30 m.p.h., or such lower maximum speed as is Obtainable or is legally permitted, with the engine at full throttle and using the gear preferred by the driver, the noise shall not exceed 90 phons, whilst when the vehicle is stationary and the engine is running at a speed at which it would give its maximum power, the noise shall not exceed 95 phons. In the normal-running test a latitude of five phons is to be allowed for two years in respect of motorcycles, heavy motorcars and motor tractors.
The onus of testing vehicles in connection with noise is proposed to be placed upon manufacturers, and it is . suggested that a certificate might be issued, as is now the practice in relation to " type vehicles." In an interview, last Friday, the Minister stated that he had reason to believe that manufacturers were sympathetic towards the proposals. If this be the case, a regulation giving effect to these recommendations would not cause undue hardships.
If, on the other hand, the regulation makes it an offence for a driver or operator to use, or permit to be used, a motor vehicle which emits mo're than the prescribed number of phons, it will not have our support. Already drivers and operators are overwhelmed by Statutory Rules and Orders. and any additional legal responsibility would be intolerable. The existing regulations dealing with the fitness of both goods and passenger vehicles are sufficiently strict in the public interest, and if vehicle inspectors were empowered to place a prohibition order upon a vehicle that did not conform with the projected noise regulation, serious hardship would be created. Moreover, drivers and operators already contribute more than enough to the national revenue in the way of fines, and any new source of persecution will be strenuously opposed by The Commercial Motor.