HEAVY TRAFFIC FEES.

Press, Volume LXIV, Issue 19310, 15 May 1928, Page 11

HEAVY TRAFFIC FEES.

♦ RUBBER-TYRED VEHICLES. The Canterbury Drivers' Industrial Union of Employers has asked the City Council to make a reduction- in license fees payable in respect o* horse-drawn vehicles which are provided with rubber tyres. It has been pointed out' by the Union that an allowance is made for motor vehicles which are rubber-tyred, and that less damage is done to the roads by such vehicles. Reporting on the matter last evening, the By-laws Committee stated: The committee considers the request a reasonable one, but before it could be complied with, it would have to be agreed to by all local bodies interested in the joint heavy traffic by-law. The matter has therefore been referred to them for consideration. . It also reported in view of the fact that several prosecutions have been instituted against owners of motor-lorries for using their vehicles without obtaining a license or paying the fee required by the motor-lorry regulations, which in some cases amounts to £SO and over, and also that the Magistrates have been convicting and fining the offenders a nominal amount which goes into the Consolidated Fund, and the local authorities are losing the license fees; counsel to the Municipal Association was asked to advise what steps should be taken to enable the fees to be collected. Mr Martin suggests that, as empowered by Section 354 (9) of "The Municipal Corporations Act, 1920," the Council pass a by-law providing that no person shall operate a motor-lorry, as defined in the amended motor-lorry regulations which came into force on April Ist, 1928, in any street of the City unless a license has been issued in respect of such vehicle under the motor-lorry regulations, 1927, and the fee required by thoso regulations has been paid,-provid-ed that a person shall not be convicted for so doing both under the regulations and the by-law. The committee recommends that the City Solicitor be instructed to draft a by-law in accordance with the suggestion of counsel to the Municipal Association. The report was adopted.