Road Transport Activities
Page 39
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IN PARLIAMENT
By Our Special Parliamentary Correspondent
LORDS AMEND THE ROAD TRAFFIC BILL.
(IN Tuesday the House of Lords \a/considered the Road Traffic Bill in Committee. There were no fewer than 25 pages of amendments.
On Clause I, which imposes a 30m.p.h. speed limit in built-up areas between 5 a.m. and midnight, Viscount Cecil moved an amendment to make the limit applicable to the whole 24 hours. Earl Howe supported it.
The Earl of Plymouth opposed the amendment on the ground that of the 7,000 fatal accidents in 1933 only 65 occurred between midnight and 5 a.m. in built-up areas. After some discussion the amendment was carried without a division.
Viscount Cecil moved a new clause, providing that every motor vehicle shall carry a speed indicator visible at a reasonable distance both to the front and rear. On. division division the proposed clause was negatived by 65 votes to 12. '
TDRIVERS' HOURS OF DUTY. HE following new clause was moved by the Earl of Plymouth :— (1) Aa order varying the periods of time prescribed in section nineteen of the principal Act (which relates to the time for which' drivers of certain vehicles may remain continuously on duty) may be made under 'sub-section 13) of the said section an as to have effect only as respects a particular class of public service vehicle, or only as respects public service vehicles when used in particular earcumstances.
12) Where an application is made under the said sub-section (3) as respects drivers of stage carriages when used either— (a) en regular services under a read service licence to' which a condition requiring the observance of a timetable is attached; or (t) on regular services in respect of which no read service licence is required; then, if it is shown to the satisfaction of the Industrial Court and the Minister that the conditions under which the services are operated are such as to secure that the periods deemed to be continuous periods for the purposes of the said section during which the vehicles are driven include times in which the drivers are able to Obtain rest and refreshment, the Industrial Court, in advising on the application, and the Minister in giving his determination thereon, may have regard to those conditions.
Lord Ponsonby said the union was prepared to accept the clause. They understood, however, from the Minister of Transport that if in practice it did not actually meet the case, he would be prepared to reconsider it. The clause was agreed to.
Lord Halsbury moved a new clause providing that, on and after January 1, 1936, all heavy motor vehicles sholl be equipped with recording speedometers.
The Earl of Plymouth said the Minister of Transport was not unsympathetic to the proposal in its wider aspect, but that no instrument of British manufacture had been found to be completely suitable. It would, therefore, be premature to insert such a provision in the Bill. The proposed clause was negativtd.
SOURCES OF MOTOR SPIRIT.
iurR. D. G. SOMERVILLE requested I Yldetails as to the original sources of motor spirit imported into this country which was classified as being of British origin, and asked the President of the Board of Trade whether, in view of the false impression created by such designation, he would cause further particulars to be provided.
Mr. Runciman stated that for the five months ended May 31, 1934, 26,400,000 gallons of motor spirit were shown as consigned from British countries. Of this quantity, 28,200,000 gallons were consigned from Trinidad and 3,000,000 gallons from Sarawak, both of which had a substantial production of petroleum and refined a large proportion of the crude oil produced. He did not understand the suggestion that the designation used conveyed a false impression.
FORTH FERRY SERVICES.
THE Minister of Transport, having been asked why no particulars were available as to the amount of traffic carried on the revised ferry service at Queensferry, pointed out that operators of ferry services were, in general, under no statutory obligation to furnish statistics to his Department. He had, however, given instructions for a traffic census to be taken for a week during the present summer, at points on roads which led to the crossings on the River Forth. QUESTION OF TRAILER DRAWBAR STRENGTH.
It
R. W. TIIORNE wished to know 1V1whether a report had been received in connection with a trailer which broke away from a tractor in Chiswick, London, and seriously injured a young man; whether the drawbar was of sound construction; and whether he intended making alterations in the regulations covering the use of trailers, whereby safety chains could be connected to the trailer and to the machine that was towing it.
Mr. Hore-Belisha said he understood that the accident referred to occurred on private property and, accordingly, he had not received a report. He was in consultation with representatives of the motor-vehicle-manufacturing interests on the general question of the strength of trailer connections.
ACCIDENTS IN LANCASHIRE.
TT is officially stated that during the I three months ended June 30; 1934, 137 persons died and 5,720 persons were injured as the result of road accidents in Lancashire.
CORROBORATION OF EVIDENCE.
‘... OLONEL GOODMAN asked the
Minister of Transport whether his attention had been called to the provision of the Order governing the speed limit in the city of Oxford, whereby no
• corroboration was necessary of the evidence of a constable's estimate of the speed of a vehicle in cases brought before the magistrate for exceeding the prescribed limit. He also asked whether, as such corroboration was required under the Road Traffic Act, the Minister would cause the Order to be amended so as to bring its provisions in accordance with the terms of the Act.
Mr. Hore-Belisha said he had no power to provide in this or similar Orders for corroboration of evidence as to speed, but an amendment to the Road Traffic Bill to meet the point would be moved in the House of Lords.