NEWS of the WEEK
Page 24
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THE YEAR'S TOLL OF THE ROAD.
In the 52 weeks from December 29, 1935, to December 26, 1936, 6,489 persons were killed and 225,689 injured in road accidents in Great Britain, the comparable figures for the previous 52 weeks being 6,522 killed and 218,798 injured. Of the persons killed in 1936, 3,023 were pedestrians, whilst of those injured 73,750 were pedestrians, the comparable figures for 1935 being 3,081 and 74,095 respectively. In the total of all road accidents there was a percentage increase of 3.04 in the number of persons killed or injured. In only two towns in Eugland—Congleton and Ramsgate— were there no deaths from road accidents.
L.N.E.R. Changes Mind: Protest Raised.
An objection lodged by the L.N.E. Railway Co., and then withdrawn, was the subject of a protest, on Monday, at a sitting of the Northern Scotland Licensing Authority, at Aberdeen. Mr. J. Angus, for Messrs. D. and S. Phillips, applied for a B licence for one vehicle.
The Authority : "I am not quite sure whether care was exercised in examining the application, because it is clearly advertised in Applications and Decisions ' that it is limited to Aberdeen, for the carriage of fish for George
King, fish merchant. In what way would that affect the railway? "
Mr. T. Gibson (for the railway company) : "I can't account for the fact that an objection was lodged."
The application was granted.
Official Orders in November.
Among the contracts for motor vehicles given out by Government departments during November last, was one by the Admiralty for a Leyland fire-engine. The War Department gave orders for bodies to the Sentinel Waggon Works (1936), Ltd., Strachans (Successors), Ltd., C. Roberts and Sons, Ltd., Messrs. E. J. Newns (Thames Ditton), and Caffyns, Ltd.; for mobile workshop bodies to Tuke and Bell, Ltd., C. Roberts and Sons, Ltd., and Eccles Motor Caravans, Ltd., and one for Guy chassis.
BIO The Air Ministry gave an order for motor rollers to Thos, Green and Sons, Ltd., and one for tractors to W. J. Reynolds, Ltd, The G.P.O. authorities ordered bodies from Birch Bros., Ltd., Messrs. Geo. Burtenshaw of Reigate, John Chalmers and Sons, Ltd., the Express Motor and Body Works, Ltd., as well as Albion and Morris chassis. . Finally, the Crown Agents for the Colonies ordered lorries from Morris Export Industries, Ltd., and road rollers from Aveling-Barford, Ltd.
Imprisonment for Yorkshire Haulier.
Sentence of three months' imprisonment, with two years' suspension of hit licence, was passed at Pontefract Police Court, on Monday, upon Mr. Lewis L. Holroyd, haulage contractor, of Tanshelf Drive, Pontefract, for using an identity certificate issued by the Licensing Authority, with intent to deceive. Fines totalling £21 were also imposed on the defendant in connection with other summonses, for insurance offences, fraudulent use of number plates and other offences.
Admitting the charges, the defendant said that the insurance offences were due to the neglect of a man to whom he had paid the necessary premium.
It was stated by the police that Mr. Holroyd had a number of previous convictions for motoring offences. At Leeds Assizes he had been committed for six months for perjury.
Public Cleansing Conference.
The annual conference of the Institute of Public Cleansing will, this year, be held at Margate from June 14-18.
C.M.U.A.-A.R.O. Joint Function.
The C.M.U.A. and A.R.O. will jointly hold the annual dinner at Hanley, announced in last week's issue. The two associations are still working on a co-operative basis in the West Midland Area.
IS MIRROR REQUIRED ON CHASSIS?
Should a rear-view mirror be fitted to a chassis? This point was argued at Perth Police Court on Monday, when Mr. John R. Bond, for Mr. G. M. Mitchell, motor mechanic, 20, Isla Street, Dundee, and Messrs. Gray Brothers, motor engineers, Clepington Road, Dundee, objected to the relevancy of a charge.
The charge against Mr. Mitchell and his employers was that he used and they permitted the use of a lorry chassis to which had not been fitted a reflecting mirror.
Mr. Bond, after quoting from the Construction and Use Regulations, stated that legislation never intended that a mirror should be fitted to a chassis. The Act described vehicles to which it referred as vehicles intended for use on the road, and in its existing state this chassis was not intended for use on the road. It was contended by the burgh prosecutor that the vehicle was being used on the road and, therefore, must come under the Act.
The case was adjourned for a week to allow the point to be considered.
130,000,000 European Road Planned.
A scheme to build the world's most modern motor road, finking Munich to Rome, is now being discussed by Austrian, Italian and German engineers, by order of their respective Governments. The road, which is expected to cost approximately E30,000,000, will be of the utmost strategic importance for the countries concerned, enabling the transport of tanks and mechanized units from one to another at speeds of 60-80 m.p.h., compared with less than 30 m.p.h. at present.
A tunnel 12 miles long beneath the Ziller Alps will connect the Austrian and Italian sections.