Commission Condemns Traffic Law Inconsistency
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AMAJOR attack on the parking laws and the inconsistency with which traffic laws in general are enforced was a highlight of the final report of the Royal Commission on the Police, which is now being studied by the Government.
The Commission have made two recommendations which are of great importance to all road users, and which will call for discussions between the Home Secretary, the Transport Minister and other members of the Cabinet. Briefly they are that the parking laws should be reviewed, simplified and made more acceptable, and that the traffic laws in general should be applied more uniformly over the country.
On the lack of uniformity in enforcing the laws, the Commission state that the motoring organizations gave them several examples of the way the inconsistent policies of different police forces was damaging relations with the public and leading to resentment.
One example was the practice of preferring alternative charges of dangerous and careless driving where it was reasonably clear that a bench was only likely to convict on the lesser.
"There is no justification for causing anxiety by such a procedure. and we recommend that this practice be brought to an end," the Commission state bluntly.
They also criticized the varying acceptance of pleas of guilty by post, and sum up by saying, "It is in our view essential to the maintenance of good relations between the police and the motoring public that the police should adopt uniform policies in every aspect of the enforcement of the traffic laws."