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The Eight-wheeler and the Law.

5th June 1928, Page 43
5th June 1928
Page 43
Page 44
Page 43, 5th June 1928 — The Eight-wheeler and the Law.
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

IT would appear that something in the nature of vexatious persecution in connection with the employment of certain eight-wheeled tractor-trailers is proceeding in the Manchester district. We have already alluded to a recent case in which the owners of a 25-ton machine of this type, which is registered as a heavy locomotive because it could not be licensed as a heavy motorcar (being of a special pattern built for the transport of heavy machinery), were fined for using the vehicle without a third man in attendance and at a speed greater than 2 m.p.h.

Since then further information has come into our possession. It seems that when the vehicle was stopped it was running unladen and then weighed less than an average bus, so that the tirade by the stipendiary magistrate against the damage which might have been caused by this vehicle would appear to have been quite unjustified.

The case was based upon the provisions of the Locomotive Act of 1861, which is admitted by all to be quite out of date and unsatisfactory, and which will be radically modified when the Road Traffic Bill is passed. What, then, is the real reason for this display of police activity founded upon this antiquated Act? It was intended to concern road locomotives vastly different from those to which it is now being applied, and which, incidentally, run on rubber tyres arid show a mileage of something like 30,000 per tyre, and as tyre wear and road destruction must necessarily be inter-related the real risk of extraordinary damage would appear to be almost negligible.

One of the amusing features of the case is that if a vehicle of this type were to be driven through London at a speed within that' permitted by law, the owners would probably be charged with traffic obstruction. It might well be asked : Are the police in Manchester as strict with• other classes of vehicle as with this? Are the trams actually, restricted to a maximum speed of 12 m.p.h.? Can the corporation run its express bus service (with Which we deal this week) without ever exceeding this speed?

That the old law is considered to be unjust is clearly shown by certain provisions in the 1317 Draft Road Traffic Bill of 1927, for one of the points in the Draft is that the maximum speed of a light locomotive (into which classification the eight-wheeler in question will fall), when equipped with elastic tyres, will be raised to 8 m.p.h., and in view of this the enforcement of the 2 m.p.h. limit is manifestly absurd.

As there appears to be some possibility of confusion arising between the articulated eightwheeler which can be run as a heavy motorcar and the type which at present . has to be licensed as a heavy locomotive, we deal with this matter in detail elsewhere in this issue.

A Steadily Advancing Public Service.

THE administrative and technical sides of public cleansing work are every year receiving fuller attention at the hands of the officers in charge of the special departments of the municipalities concerned with this important service, and one of the influences to the good has been the Institute of Cleansing Superintendents, which is next week holding its annual conference in Liverpool. The work upon•which these officers is engaged is not at ail

attractive in itself ; it even has its unpleasant side, and one can imagine the pleasure that is afforded by being able to get away from it for a few days and to view it in the abstract, to discuss the ways and means of securing efficiency and economy in the various operations.

Those who travel and have their eyes open — or, rather, directed downwards and inwards as well as upwards upon the architectural and picturesque—realize that Great Britain is well served by its cleansing officials, for the sanitary conditions prevailing here are, on the whole, not generally equalled and but rarely improved upoa anywhere. In Holland and in some of the states of Germany extreme cleanliness of houses and of villages and towns is the rule; It is a kind of marshalled cleanliness, and certainly calls for admiration; but in the disposal of refuse the high level of efficiency attained here is often not reached even in the Continental towns where cleanliness is the first attribute to strike the eye of the observer.

The motor-vehicle manufacturer has in recent years come substantially to the aid of the cleansing departments by the production of collecting wagons with special features, and of gully ensptiers and street cleansers. Some of the latest products are to be on exhibition on Tuesday next, opposite Calderstones Park, Liverpool, and models of the products that have not yet reached the stage of manufacture will be shown, we believe, at the Technical School in William Brown Street, where the members of the Institute will foregather during the week for the installation of their new president and for the reading and discussion of papers upon the different phases of the subject with which they are concerned. It is not an exaggeration to say that without the mechanically propelled vehicle the problem that would face cleansing superintendents in these days of congested traffic and of increased demands for the maintenance of a high standard in refuse collection and public cleansing work would be almost insuperable.


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