The Position of Passenger Vehicles
Page 61
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'Under the Road Traffic Act, 1930
The Third Instalment of Our New Series of Articles Which has Been Specially Prepared and Written in Language Shorn of Difficult Phraseology and Technicalities, for the Benefit of Those Interested in Coach and Bus Operation
,b. S has already been explained, a public-service A
vehicle licence relates to •the construction of a vehicle and is available for use in any traffic area, but a road-service licence, which deals with the use to which a vehicle is put, cannot be used in any traffic area except the one for which it is granted, unless it be ' packed," or endorsed, by the traffic commissioners of each of the other ,areas in which the vehicle is to be operated.
This prevision will save an owner who runs a longdistance service from having to obtain a number of separate licences, but it will not save him from having to make separate application to the commissioners of each traffic area through which he wishes to run, or from having to supply the commissioners of each area with the same particulars which he supplied to the commissioners by whom the licence was first issned, because the Act lays down that all the provisions as to applications for road-service licences, and the granting. refusal, suspension or revocation of such lieences, shall apply to the backing of road-service licences.
Moreover, the commissioners who back a licence may, so far as their own area is concerned, impose any condition which they might have imposed if the application had been one for the grant of an original licence (Sections 73 and 74).
Notice of Failure, Damage or Alteration.
The holder of a public-service-vehicle licence is required to report any failure or damage "of a nature calculated to affect the safety of the passengers or of persons using the road." The report is to be made to the commissioners for the traffic area in which the failure or damage happened, and is to be made "as soon as may be" after the happening of the failure or damage.
The holder of a public-service-vehicle licence is also required to report to the commissioners of the traffic area in which the licence was issued, any alteration, otherwise than by way of replacement of parts, which is made in the structure or fixed equipment of the vehicle. These reports are to be made "forthwith" (Section 70).
The Act does not state what the commissioners are to do when they receive notice of any failure, damage or alteration, but presumably they will forward the reports to a certifying officer or a public-service-vehicle examiner, who will exercise his right, on production, if required, of his authority, of inspecting the vehicle, and of suspending the licence if it appears to him that the vehicle, owing to defects, is, or is likely to become, unfit for service, until the defects have been remedied.
Power to Inspect Vehicles.
The power of certifying officers and public-servicevehicle examiners to inspect vehicles is not limited to eases wnere notice has been given of failure of the vehicles, or damage, alteration or additions to them,
but applies generally to all such machines. Certifying. officers and examiners may at any time enter and inspec,', any public-serviee vehicle, and they may require any such vehicle to be stopped for inspection. They may also, at any time which is reasonable " having regard to the circumstances of the case," enter any premises where they have reason to believe that a .public-service vehicle is kept and inspect the vehicle (Section 69).
Suspending Public-service-vehicle Licences.
As mentioned above, a Certifying officer or a publicService-vehicle examiner may suspend a public-service: vehicle licence. If, however, the defects are such as can be remedied within 48 hours, and are not defects which involve danger to the public, the 'suspension is not to operate before 'the expiration of the 48 hours, nor is it to operate after that time if within the 48 hours the licensee satisfies the officer or examiner that the defects have been, or are in course of being, remedied.
Where a licence is suspended the officer or examiner is to notify the commissioners who granted the licence, and the licensee, but the suspension may subsequently ,be removed by the officer or examiner. If the suspension has been made by a public-service-vehicle examiner, and he refuses to remove it, the licensee may apply to the commissioners for the vehicle to be examined by a certifying officer, who will have power to remove the suspension. If he, too, refuses to reinove the suspension, the licensee may appeal to the Minister of Transport.
As the system which is now introduced is entirely new it is not free from complications, but it is to be hoped that it will work satisfactorily in practice.
Suspensions of Road-service Licences.
It is clear that a road-service licence will be automatically removed by the suspension of the publicservice-vehicle licence for the same vehicle, but the commissioners who granted it may also revoke or suspend it on the ground that any condition subject to which it was granted has not been complied with.
The powers of the commissioners are, however, restricted by a special provision that they shall not revoke a licence unless, owing to the frequency of the breach of conditions on the part of the licensee, or to the breach having been committed wilfully, or to the danger to the public involved in the breach, they are satisfied that the licence Should be revoked or suspended (Section 74). A licensee may appeal to the Minister of Transport against the revocation or suspension of the licence.
The Minister of Transport is authorized to prescribe the fees which shall be charged by the commissioners in respect of the granting or " backing " of licences, and in respect of the issue of certificates of fitness. All such fees go to the Road Fund (Section 86).