ROAD TRANSPORT MATTERS IN PARLIAMENT.
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Petrol Stocks and the Tax. Road Fund Finances. The. Rights of Pedestrians. Automatic Traffic Regulators.
By Our Special Parliamentary Correspondent.
SQM-JOHN MARRIOTT directed the attention of the Chancellor of the Exchequer to the hardship arising in connection with clause 2. (4) (a). of the Finance Bill in the case of firms which carry on the double business of garage agents and omnibus proprietors when the "aggregate of both stocks of
• petrol exceeds 10,000 gallons. He suggested that the excise officials should discriminate for purposes of duty between the two stocks and so avoid unfair competition on the part of firms acting only as garage agents.
Mr. Churchill said there did not appear to be any ground for such discrimlnation. Under the clause any petrol used between April 25th and May 8th
• by the firm in whose stock it was on the former date was excluded in determining Whether that firm's stock exceeded 10,000 gallons and was therefore liable to duty. The combination of a garage and an omnibus business could thus only affect the firm's liability to duty in what he understood to be the unlikely event of its holding more than a fortnight's stock 'onaccount of .its omnibus business: Road Fund Receipts and Payments.
TBE following statement shows the receipts and payments on; the revenue account of' the Road Fiind for each of the three years ending March 31st, 1927:— The payments for ' the year 1926-27 ificluded 17,000,000 transferred to the Exchequer from the accumulated balances. of ' the Fund under the Finance Act, 1926.
Excessive Speed Complaints.
A TTENTION having been called to excessive -t-1. speed of vehicles along the Brigstock Road, Thornton Heath, and complaints of residents, the Home Secretary said he was inforMed that one complaint had been received by the local police and special observation had been kept on the Brigstock Road. Three cases of dangerous driving had been reported during the past month, but it could not he said that excessive speeds were general.
Col. Mason pointed out that road transport companies advertised time schedules the punctuality of which involved consistent excess of the legal speed limit, and he suggested an amendment of the law.
The Minister of Transport observed that the Road Traffic Bill contained proposals for the amendment of the law relating to the speed of motor vehicles.
Rights of Pedestrians.
TT was suggested by Mr. Atbery that the Metro politan Police should be instructed not to lose sight of the rights and needs of pedestrian traffic in their efforts to facilitate motor traffic and to see that vehicles shonld not be allowed to halt on the crossings indicated for pedestrian use. The Home Secretary pointed out that instructions on both points were contained in the General Orders of the Metropolitan Police and had been reinforced from time to time by special memoranda. He thought, too, that the instructions were generally observed. Mr. Albery suggested that furthersteps should be taken to safeguard pedestrians, espe6ally in rural areas, by making more widely known any existing rules of .the road, but Col. Ashley, while _glad to receive any suggestions for miaimizing the datigers arising from road traffic, did not think that accidents to pedestrians were commonly caused by a lack of knowledge of the rules of the road either, on their part or on the part of the drivers of vehicles.
Excessive Noise: ACCORDING to an official statement, the numher of prosecutions of motorists in the Metropolitan Police Districtfor excessive noise during the last six months of 1927 was 6,622, and from JanuarY 1st to April 30th, 1928, 4,150. For the 12 months ended May 31st 13,574 summonses were issued in respect of ineffective silencers on motorcars and motorcycles. There is no separate record in respect of motorcycles.
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Ilinistek Of TranSport.informed Mr. Day Brilliant Lights on Vehicles. . T BE • Ilinistek Of TranSport.informed Mr. Day that his attention had tint been drawn to any recent ,reCornmendatiori W coroners' juries to the effect that .the.ligliting of Motor vehicles Was frequently too brilliant, and that legislation should be passed to control it.. The degree of dazzle unfortunately did not Merely 'depend upon the power of headlights, but also upon ,their construction, focusing, and other factors. He was not aware of any headlight which provided an adequate driving light without some degree of dazzle. All technical developments were being closely watched by his department, but at the present juncture he did not consider it desirable to make any regulations under the powers recently conferred on him by the Road Transport Lighting Act, 1927, with a view to limiting the power, of motor vehicle headlights..
Automatic Traffic Regulators, COL. ASHLEY states that he has received reports of the all-electric automatic traffic regulators which have been installed in Leeds and Edinburgh. The reports received indicate that a certain measure of success hag been attained by the use of these automatic signals, but they are still in the experimental stage. The question of making experiments on similar lines in the Metropolitan area is under consideration.
The Petrol Duty Petition.
TIERE is an amusing reference in the report by the Select Committee on Petitions to the petition presented to the House of CCOMIOns . in March last by Col. Howard-Bury praying that the method of motor taxation be amended in favour of a Eat-rate duty on petrol plus a small registration fee. The petition bore 912,694 signatures, but the committee state that they have not reported to the House the total number of names appended as they are of opinion that some of the signatures are in the same handwriting, and that as regards those signatures the Orders of the House which require that every petition must be signed by the parties whose names are appended thereto lig their names or marks, and by no one else, except in case of incapacity by sickness, have not been complied with. The signatures in question have not therefore been counted. Another petition which is
referred to in the report is signed by 3,333 Inhabitants of Barlby and Selby praying the House to take such steps as will relieve the inhabitants and other users of the Barlby and Selby toll bridge from the tolls and Alms make the King's highway free.
. Conway Bridge. Tolls.
A CCORDING to the Bridge Revenue Accounts Li of Conway the amounts of tolls collected by the Conway Bridge Commissioner's in the five years, from 1921-22 to 1925-26 were respectively .£5,047, £5,795, £6,884, £7,556 and £8,570.
Increased Omnibus Fares.
91HE observations of the omnibus companies on I_ the recent increases in omnibus fares. in the Loudon area have been communicated by the Minister of Transport to the local authorities and other bodies interested and are 'receiving consideration. Meantime the Minister says he does not
think there is any further action which he can usefully take in the matter.
Approaches to Boothferry • Bridge.
THE Minister of Transport was asked by Lieut.Commander Kenworthy whether he had now received the report of his chief road engineer, who recently examined the state of affairs on the roads leading from the new Boothferry Bridge to join up with the Liverpool-Hull trunk road. Col. Ashley said, the. reports he had received went to show that certain improvements were desirable and that there was need for concerted action by the local authorities concerned for the purpose of forming satisfactory bridge approaches, toward the cost of which he was prepared to give assistance from the Road Fund, as he had already stated. Liettt.-Commander Kenworthy Suggested that if the Minister could not promise that work would be undertaken he should make, provision for suitable ambulance arrangements on the road as the police anticipated heavy accidents.