OPINIONS and
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UERIES
RUBBER STUDS FOR PEDESTRIAN CROSSINGS.
[4580] Birmingham Safety First Council has decided to send to the City Engineer a resolution expressing the opinion that the use of metal studs to mark pedestrian crossings is not conducive to safety and suggesting that some other form of marking the crossings be adopted. Few people will quarrel with this view, for it is but plain common sense.
It is many months now since Birmingham gave the _ whole country a lead in trying out rubber studs instead of steel. These showed up so well in dirty weather that there are now more than 3,000 of them all over the city. They have proved themselves to be the safest as well as the most practical way of marking crossings. .
GEORGE BLOCK.
EXCHANGING VIEWS WITH OVERSEAS READERS.
[4581] I am a transport driver and I am very interested in road transport overseas. If there be readers abroad who would like to exchange views and opinions on this subject, -I would be pleased to hear from
them. L. G. Erus. 16, Pelham Road, Alum Rock, Birmingham S.
RUNNING A WEEK-END TOUR.
[4582] We have been approached by members of a local institute to run a week-end tour, and as we do not hold a licence for extended tours, could you please inform us if it is necessary to apply to the Traffic Commissioners for one. We would mention that we ' have given them a price for the coach and not for individual fares. T.J.S. Llandudno.
[We are of the opinion that the work desclribed in your letter may be carried out as a contract job not requiring a road-service licence, so long as the following requirements are satisfied :—You must not make any sort of payment to the organizer of the party. You must not advertise the outing. All the passengers must, in the case of a journey to a particular destination, be carried to, or in the vicinity of, that destination, or, in the case of a tour, carried for the greater part of the journey. No differentiation of fares between passengers must be made. The party must not include any person who frequently, or as a matter of routine, travels at or about the time of day at which the journey is made to the destination in question from a place from or through which the journey is made. You must also make a record of the job, in compliance with the Public Service • _ B2.4 Vehicles (Contract Carriage Record) Regulations, 19:34, and the driver must carry a work ticket, on which must be entered, prior to the commencement of the journey, your name and address, the time and date on which the journey is to commence and the date on which it is intended to terminate, the point at which the journey is to commence and sufficient description of the route to t.how the intended extent of the journey, and the name and address of the party organizer. The record must contain the time and date of the commencement and tetrnination of the journey, the point at which the journey commenced, and a description of the route and the name and address of the party organizer.—ED:l
BEET HAULAGE BY TRACTOR.
[4583] I shall be glad if you will answer the following questions in your valuable paper, of which I am a regular reader :— Will it be necessary for me to pay the extra fuel tax on paraffin, which I use on my Fordson tractor, when it is employed, in conjunction with a two-wheeled trailer, for carting sugar beet to the factory ; also, what is the duty on a new Fordson tractor on pneumatic tyres, • which I shall employ for this work? FARMER. Lincoln.
[You will certainly have to pay the full tax of 8d, per gallon on fuel used in your tractor, although not until it comes into force on August 1. The duty on your tractor will be No extra duty is required for a trailer.—ED.]
NO SLEEPING IN THE CAB.
[4584] Could you, please, inform me if it is legal for a driver of a heavy lorry to sleep in the cab of his lorry, while away from home, provided that he rests the required number of hours? Also would you please forward me your booklet entitled, "Legal Pointers for Drivers of Goods Vehicles." M. E. SMALL. Ilminster.
fIt is not permissible for a driver to take his long-rest period in the cab. The Act states explicitly that this lest must be taken away from the vehicle. We have sent to you a copy of ouf booklet, as requested.—ED.]
CONVERTING A VAN TO A BUS.
[4585] I bought a 30-cwt. van through the medium of your useful paper, but as I have not quite enough work for it, I am considering applying for a passenger service licence, which I believe will be granted. Could you inform me whether this van would be allowed to be made into a 14-seater bus? It is a 1933 Bedford
with the following inside measurements : Length behind, driver, 8 it. ; width, 5 ft. 10 ins.; height 5 ft. 6 ins. It has been examined for me by " S.T.R." of 'I' he Commercial Motor and his report is that it is in exceptionally good order, almost new, having run only 24,000 miles. Would the cubic capacity be large
enough for a 14-seater? P.S.V.Glasgow.
[The dimensions of the van body are not large enough for a 14-seater bus. Presuming that the body is to be altered so that there is a central entrance at the back, the inside length of 8 ft. behind the driver is just sufficient for a lengthwise seat' for six passengers on each side, or a total seating capacity of 12. Each passenger must have 10 ins, length of seat. If you wish to have crosswise seats, provided that the position of the wheelarch be favourable, then there could be two rows in front. The cross-wise seats on one side would be for two persons and those on the other side for one person, and at the back there would be a pair of facing seats, each for two passengers. This arrangement, however, only provides 10 seats. It is permissible to alter a van into a bus provided that the body when altered satisfiesthe requirements of the Regulations. Adequate ventilation must be afforded, and we would suggest two half-drop windows each side and a. pair of roof ventilators. It is impossible to decide whether the conversion woOd be
worth the expense entailed without more details of the construction arid dimensions of the existing body.—Eol
CARRYING A TRAVELLER AND HIS SAMPLES.
[4580] I am the owner of an Austin Twenty for which I hold a hackney licence to carry six persons. I have an offer of work in which I am to take a traveller around for about 10 hours per week, together with his samples, weighing approximately 2 cwt. Will you please say whether I shall. be in order in taking on this
work? R. W. LtACII. Littleborough.
[There is no objection to your using your Austin, for which you hold a hackney licence, for driving a traveller in the course of his business with his samples so long as you do not make any alteration_to the car to enable the samples to be carried. For example, you must not take out the hack seat, or put in shelves. A goods licence under the Road and Rail Traffic Act is not required except in the case of a vehicle 'which is constructed or adapted for the conveyance' of goods. Nor is it necessary to licence a vehicle as a goods vehicle under the Finance Acts unless it be constructed or adapted for that purpose. It is, however, desirable that you should notify your insurance cam, pany, in order to make sure that your policy against third-party risks will cover you while you are using the car for the purpose mentioned.—ED.]