MOTOR VEHICLES ACT.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19153, 9 November 1927, Page 10

MOTOR VEHICLES ACT.

AMENDMENTS INTRODUCED LIST OF EXEMPTIONS. [THE PRESS Special Ssrric?.] | WELLINGTON. November ? ; j The reinstatement of the exemption j <>f Government and Io?ai body vehicle: ! from tho requiremeiu oi being | under the Motor Vehicles Act is pro- ! posed in amendment* introduced into the House ot" Representatives by Gov-ernor-General's Message to-day. The exemption is conditional upon the vehicles being used solely lor road construction and road maintenance puri l'o.-es. Explaining the amendment; which will be moved into the recently introduced Motor Vehicles Ac;t Amendment Bill when it reaches its committee stage, the Minister for Public Works (Mr K. S. Williams! informed the. Hou.se that vehicles used by private loading linns would also be exempted provided they were designed arid used exclusively lor the above mentioned purposes and could not be used or readily adapted for use tor any other purposes. "The distinction is made," added the Minister, "to prevent abuse of the privilege so that in the case of public vehicles, motor-lorries used exclusively for road metal cartage will be exempted, but these vehicles will not be exempted in the case of private reading firms." The purpose of another amendment, continued Mr Williams, is to exempt tractors and trailers belonging to Harbour Boards from the requirements of the principal Act relating to registration and licensing. These vehicles are used on a limited portion of the roads on very infrequent occasions when the wharves; are congested, and as the Wellington Harbour Board alone has over 200 of them, it is considered that tho Boards have a good case for exemption. So far as is known the Wellington Harbour Board is the only one which uses the roads at all. The former exemption of harbour vehicles under the principal Act extended to all of their vehicles other than motorcars or motor-cycles, and the present exemption is, of course, much more limited.

The object of a further amendment is to restrict as much as possible abuses in the use of dealers' plates, and lias been pointed out .to the Department as being desirable in view of the concession proposed to be given by the Bill enabling dealers' plates to be uled by the dealers for any pan of their business. The proposal prohibits their use on Sundays and at night time on week davs.

The purpose of the final amendment, concluded the Minister, is to bring the licensing year for drivers' licenses into line with the licensing year for motor vehicles, so that a motor vehicle owner may license his vehicles and obtain his driver's license noon the same dav.