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MP WANTS AGE BARRIERS FOR DRIVERS
Page 62
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FROM OUR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT
AGE barriers for the holders of heavy goods vehicle licences are to be suggested by Col. Sir Harwood Harrison, Conservative MP for Eye, Suffolk, during committee stage of the Road Safety Bill. He has tabled an amendment seeking to add age to health and driving conduct as the qualifications the Minister might require.
He said this week he would be raising the matter to discover Mrs. Castle's reaction. Although he would probably not press it to a division, he felt there should be an upper age limit around 65, and the minimum limit might also have to be investigated. "After all, heavy-duty vehicles are involved, and there is no doubt that reactions differ with age," he told COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
Sir Harwood has also set down a number of amendments to the heavy goods section of the Bill, now in its early stages in Commons committee. One would make it more likely that drivers and operators will face a £50 penalty for using a prohibited vehicle. The Bill at present makes the driver or the operator liable.
He also seeks to make it an offence under the Bill to drive a laden goods vehicle on trade plates, and wants the Bill's plating provisions to be tightened up to include a specified number of lights and reflectors.
Sir Harwood's proposed amendments pay particular attention to the heavy goods vehicle licence scheme. He will seek to provide for the establishment of a driving instruction scheme under qualified instructors for potential drivers, and for the testers under the scheme to be "men with practical experience of driving goods vehicles". The fee for a licence, says another amendment, should not be more than £3 a year. Mr. Roger Gresham Cooke, Conservative MP for Twickenham, has weighed in with three new clauses to the Bill, one aimed specifically at
goods vehicles, the others at drivers generally:—
• New Clause No. 1 says that heavy goods vehicles should be restricted to 50 m.p.h. on motorways where a general limit of 70 m.p.h. has been imposed.
• New Clause No. 2 says that any driver convicted of reckless, dangerous or careless driving should, if a court thinks fit, have to face a proficiency test and report, under Ministry auspices, before being sentenced..
• New Clause No. 3 says that all who pass a driving test should spend one year "under probation" during which they would carry P plates and not be permitted to exceed 50 m.p.h.
The Transport Minister has also tabled some official amendments to the Bill, which include the extension of plating certificate requirements to include equipment as well as a vehicle itself in cases where alterations are involved. She also proposes to tighten up the Bill relating to the effectiveness of test certificates which are produced in support of applications for carriers' licences.