Public Safety
Page 35
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Just as the original 1930 Road Traffic Act provisions were based on the public safety viewpoint, so are the arguments advanced today for a reduction to 10 hours based on the same commendable foundation. Whether .these arguments are strong enough to outweigh • ail other considerations is a different matter. The unions say that the increased speed of vehicles, coupled with the considerable strain of driving in congested conditions, makes 10 hours plenty for a man to put in. They argue that, at the old 20 m.p.h. limit, a trunk vehicle could travel (if it stuck to its scheduled speeds) about 180 miles in one 11-hour shift. But, they say, at a 30 m.p.h. limit, the same vehicle and driver can cover some 40 miles more in a 10-hour day.
This, of course, does not become anything like the same simple equation in practice. To start with, buses, coaches, trunk goods vehicles and local delivery vehicles would each be affected very differently. With the labour situation as it is today. the bus industry is hard-pressed to maintain its schedules and has to work spreadovers with overtime and rest-day duties. The .fact that a 42-hour basic week has been conceded is largely irrelevant in this context, because there has been no reduction in the total hours worked by platform staff each week. Many existing coach services would be thrown into some difficulty if a 10-hour day became the legal maximum.
Trunk goods vehicles, on the other hand, would not be affected in quite the same .way. They would none the less suffer a reduction in productivity. The local vans doing, perhaps, 40 or 50 miles a day very rarely work the full legal maximum anyway, How, therefore, could the Minister (if he should) legislate for a reduced legal day? Everyone would experience a different effect. and all would have to he catered for. And what reason would, be served by doing it?
These are just a few of the points to consider. There is not unanimity amongst all sections of road transport about it. Operators would do well to give it full consideration because. undoubtedly, it might Well, one day, become a major public issue.