TRANSPORT BILL

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 59, Issue 274, 1 September 1939, Page 8

TRANSPORT BILL

SECOND READING DEBATE. POWER OF ARREST. (Abridged from Press Association). WELLINGTON, August '3l. : Moving the second reading of the Transport Law Amendment Bill in the House of Representatives to-night, the Minister of Transport (the Hon. R. Semple) said the fundamental principle of the Bill aimed at a greater degree of efficiency and safety. One of the clauses in the Bill which Would be contested would be that taking motor licence fees, away from the counties, and he ;.would be.accused of robbing the counties. This was incorrect, because the departments under his control had been responsible for saving the counties thousands and thousands of pounds. Before the present Government came into "office. the counties had been called on "to build main roads, etc., but the High- ", ways Board had taken that responsibility off their shoulders and thus saved > them considerable sums. The 5s licence fee paid by motorists was never intended to balance county budgets, and should never have been used for that purpose. It should be used, he contended, as a protection fee for the “motorist’s life and the lives of other users of the road, and he was of opinion that the fines imposed on motorists should be used for a similar purpose. -The fees which were collected from counties would be used for policing the roads. Mr Semple outlined the growth of transport in New Zealand over the last .few years. Last year the expenditure in New Zealand totalled £33,500,000 and the total amount invested in road vehicles ' and equipment was -£147,000,000. There were 308,000 motor vehicles in the Dominion and in the last four years the increase in the number of motor vehicles was 99,000. The Minister outlined briefly the organisations which favoured the Bill, and admitted in reply to a question by Mr W. J. Poison (National, Stratford) that most counties were opposed to losing the 5s motor licence fee. He was chiefly concerned, he said, at the number of people wlft) were being killed bn, the highways, and we would not get the necessary degree of safety unless we had a strdng transport law enforcement organisation. Road fatalities had been reduced, said the Minister, but . more could be done in this direction and it was for that- purpose that the Bill had been introduced. He thought that those opposing the measure would put £ s. d before the saving of human life. Cries of “No!” from the Opposition. Registration of Bicycles. * . Dealing with, the registration of bicycles, the Minister said it was proposed to charge the cyclist Is for the registration of his bicycle and 6d transfer fee if he sold it. In the last 11 years in Christchurch, he said, 13,140 bicycles had been stolen, and it was most- difficult to trace them, r; The Hon. D. G. Sullivan: They must have been stolen by visitors (Laughter). Mr A. E. Jull (National, Waipawa): It is only distributing wealth. (Laughter.) v Mr Semple: If my honourable friend had hiked four or five miles to work in , Canterbury, then came out tired after his day’s work to find someone had pinched his bike lie wouldn’t joke about it. -- ' Besides , making the tracing of stolen .bicycles easier if they were registered and had numbers on them, Mr Semple continued, registration was also required for law enforcement purposes. The department in Christchurch had taken .36 cases of cyclist traffic offences as .a. test and obtained convictions in only two cases because the other 34 offenders had given wrong names and addresses. The State would not make anything out of registration at Is, he said. The Bill would enable the police to trace bicycles that had been stolen, and why should not cyclists he made to obey the* traffic laws? He could see no argument against it.

Drunken Drivers. Dealing with the drunken driver aspect of the Bill Mr Semple continued that the measure would prohibit the use of liquor on public vehicles, but it would not apply in private cars. Concerning the powers of arrest, which would be given traffic officers, lie said tliat these officers were actually operating this power to-day by asking suspected intoxicated drivers to go to the police station. Under the present law if such people refused to comply with the traffic officer's request they could not be charged with resisting arrest. It was not intended to arm traffic officers with handcuffs, batons or revolvers, he said, or to have scuffles on the. roads, but under the Bill drunken motorists could lie compelled to go to police stations. u .1 “Railway Protection.” The Rt, Hon. J. G. Coates (National, Kaipara) said it was hardly correct for the Minister to say that the Bill provided solely for greater safety and efficiency on the roads. Railway protection could be seen running all the way through the Bill, and there was encroachment on the. rights of private business, for the Minister of Railways had been given a greater advantage than. ever. Discussing the clause which gives traffic inspectors the powers of arrest, Mr Coates said this was going an exceedingly long way. The Government should be careful not to take a step that would prejudice the rights of citi2etns. The freedom of citizens was everything in democracy, and to his way of thinking it was not wise to give officers the power of arrest when they had not had any previous training. These inspectors were now to have the right of summary arrest without reason, and many of them were young men. My Coates added that the Bill also dictated to a magistrate what he> was to do. It said that a magistrate was hot to. suppress the name of an offender." Surely 'it would he wiser to allow-ihe- magistrate to decide what wairhest in eaclicase? Mr Coates also said he did not see any harm being done if a person took a bottle or two of beer home with him in a passenger vehicle, but that was only his own opinion. Other people might look upon

that sort of thing in a peculiar way, though it was an entirely different matter for a person to offer drink to other passengers while travelling. Bicycle Tax. Mr Coates said that the Minister had contended that the licensing of bicycles would be a means to safety on the roads, but personally he- thought the idea, was to prevent theft. Mr Semple: We will have a betterchance. Mr Coates said that bicycles had the manufacturers’ numbers on them, and he could not see how a licence number would make any difference. He asked if drunken cyclists could be arrested. Mr Sullivan : Can he ride a bicycle if drunk? Mr Coates said it appeared that the Minister would collect £4500 in Christchurch alone for the purpose of paying his traffic officers, and it would bo collected from working people. He urged that the Bill should be sent to a committee because he was very anxious to see that no hardship was done to any section of the community. The debate was adjourned when the House rose at 10.30 p.m.