Road• Transport Topics in Parliament
Page 56
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By Our Special Parliarnentary Correspondent
BRAKE-TESTING CONCESSIONS.
WITH regard to the amendments in the Regulations respecting the testing of brakes, which he proposed to make in response to the protest made by Members, Mr. Burgin (replying to Lieut.-Commander Tuinell) said he had circulated to representative associations (in accordance with Section 3 (2) of the Road Traffic Act, 1930) the following draft amendment to Regulation 95 of the 1937 Regulations :— If) Save as hereinafter provided, the power conferred by this Regulation .to test and inspect the brakes, silencers or steering gear of a vehicle on the premises where the vehicle is shall not he exercised unless either the owner of the vehicle consents' or notice of the date and time at which it ii proposed' to carry out the test and inspection has been given to him in accordance with the provisions of the next succeeding paragraph; (ii) This notice shall be given to the owner of the vehicle personally or left at his address not less than •34 hours before the time of the proposed test and inspectien or shall be sent not less than 72 hoots before that time by registered post to him at his address; Chi) For the purpose of this Regulation, the owner at the Yehicle shall be deemed to ,be— (a) In the case of a vehicle licensed under Section 13 of the Finance Act, 1920, the person appearing as the owner of the vehicle in the register kept under Section 6 of the Roads Act, 1920, by the Council by whore the licence was 'issued;
iti) In the case of a vehicle used under a general licence, the person whose name is given on the licence as the person to whom the licence was Issued; and
ici In the case of a vehicle which it used Sender an international eireuiation permit, the person to whom the permit was issued. and, save in the case of a vehicle used under an international circulation permit, the addreat of the owner of the vehicle shall be deemed to he the address appearing in the register of the Council by which the licence was issued; iiv) The foregoing provisions as to notice shall not. apply in the Case of a test and inspection
made within 48 hours of an accident to which Section 22 of the Road Traffic Act, 1930, applies in which the vehicle has been involved.
UNIFORM NON-SKID ROADS.
RECENT experiments with cotton cloth for road-making, declared Mr. Burke, had proved successful and such fillings served as a good foundation for a road, whilst making repairs cheaper and more easily carried out, The Minister, however, had no further information, on the subject, to impart.
Asked the nature of the material to be used in the construction of the national roads, Mr. Burgin said it was impracticable, in a Parliamentary answer, to indicate the many varieties of material to be employed.
B42 Further curiosity, however, having been expressed as to whether he proposed to provide all roads under his control with a concrete surface, Mr. Burgin said surfaces would be of uniform nonskid quality, and, when reconstruction works were undertaken, long stretches of road would be of one type.
HORSE TRAFFIC CAUSES CONGESTION.
HE Minister states that he has not I come to any decision regarding the prohibition of all horse-drawn traffic from Central London. Mr. Pilkington suggested that horse-drawn vehicles caused congestion everywhere.
GRANTS TO HIGHWAY AUTHORITIES.
THE rates of the grants to urban 1 authorities for highway improvements vary (in the words of the Minister) according to the classification of the road and the nature of the improvement, and, for certain descriptions of work, according to the financial circumstances of the authorities concerned. In general, the rate of grant for improvements to Class I roads in built-up areas is 50 per cent, of the net cost, but for schemes of exceptional magnitude and traffic importance in such areas, the Minister is prepared, if certain conditions he fulfilled, to consider a grant at the rate of 80 per cent.
REMOVAL OF OLD TRAM LINES.
ANSWERING Mr. Groves on the subject of the retention of tram lines after conversion to trolleybuses, Mr. Burgin said the condition of the track, etc., must largely • determine whether disused rails could be retained temporarily pending reconstruction of the road. The liability of London Transport, in this matter, was governed by Section 23 of the London Passenger Transport Act, 1933, as amended by Section 90 of the 1936 Act.
WIDE MEANING OF "OWNER."
LAST, week Colonel Sandeman Allen asked the Minister of Transport to make a further statement as to the meaning of the words " owner of the premises," in Regulation 95 of the Motor Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations, 1937.
Mr. Burgin said the expression meant the occupier of the premises, or any other person, such as a duly authorized officer of a company, empowered to permit entry into the premises. •
SELBY BRIDGE BY-PASS.
oiN the question of Selby Bridge and Lithe by-pass on the Liverpool-Hull road, Mr. Burgin proposes a new tollfree bridge some 500 yds'. from the existing bridge and a five-mile by-pass eliminating two level crossings. The cost of improving the present line through the town and replacing the toll-bridge by a new toll-free bridge would be about £500,000, but would afford traffic facilities much inferior to those to be provided under his proposal. He has, however, ordered a local inquiry at which objectors will have every opportunity oil making representations. He can hold out no hope of a grant towards freeing the existing toll bridge at Selby or assisting in providing a new bridge in the same situation.
ESSEX ROAD IMPROVEMENTS.
REPLYING to Brig.-General Spears, Mr. Burgin said a grant had been made from the Road Fund towards providing a second carriage-way, with cycle-tracks, along 11 miles • of East Ham and Barking By-pass (in Barking), and Essex County Council hoped that work would be started• this year. He was in touch with West Ham and East Ham Corporations as to the section west of this length. Proposals were under discussion with Essex County Council for widening the eastern continuation towards Dagenham.
To Sir Charles MacAndrew, who thought the use of cycle-tracks should be compulsory, Mr. Burgin said every encouragement should be given to cyclists to use them.