MONEY SPENT ON ROADS

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22465, 28 July 1938, Page 5

MONEY SPENT ON ROADS

♦ BIG INCREASE OVER YEAR HEAVY LOAN EXPENDITURE i From Our Parliamentary Reporter.! WELLINGTON, July 27. Expenditure for the year 1936-37 on the Dominion’s highways, urban streets, and roads reached the total of £9,008,700, as against £8,077,975 for 1935-36. Of this sum, £2,777,099 represented maintenance charges, £4,004,859 was spent on construction, and £2,226,742 was absorbed by interest and sinking fund charges. Annual charges for each mile of road dropped from £lO4 to £96. This is shown in the annual report of the Transport Department, tabled in Parliament today. Of the £9,008,700 that was spent. £2,031,771 was raised by means of loans, £2,493,608 was drawn from local rates, £693,038 from unemployment taxation, while general taxation provided £1,186,321 and motor taxation £2,603,962. Of’ these sources loan-moneys show a large increase of £897,000 over last year’s figures and now represent 22.5 per cent. of. the total money expended. In 1930-31, however, this figure represented nearly 30 per cent, of the total charges. The proportion of the road bill paid by motor taxation again shows a sub stantlal increase, being £284,000 in excess of the figure for the previous year. Comprising 28,9 per cent, of the total, motor taxation has become the chief source of moneys for expenditure on roads, and represents a sum almost double that which was spent in 1933-34. “The total amount raised from motor taxation for 1936-37 was £5,887,206, the highest figure yet recorded,” the report continues. "There has been an increase in every class of revenue except for customs duties in respect of vehicles and parts. This last item has. decreased by £33,722, no doubt duo to the increase in the number ot vehicles assembled in New Zealand. Motor spirits tax has increased by £438,431, tyre tax by £21,633, fees and fines under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1924, by £69,412, and other fees and taxes are estimated to have increased by £41.032. Approximately 54 per cent, of the net total is set aside for reading purposes, while ,o£ the balance, 5.632, credited to the Consolidated Fund, all but £3894 is collected as customs duty on imports.” Enforcement of Laws “There are two main aspects relating to the enforcement of traffic laws,” the report states, “the education of road users in their legal requirements, and the detection and certain punishment of wilful offenders. Both these factors have received attention in the present road-safety policy. Steps have been taken to acquaint every adult person in the Dominion with his legal responsibilities, while the machinery for the detection of offences has been improved. • Experience indicates that wilful offenders comprise a very small percentage of the public. Broadly speaking, it may be said that the traffic laws provide a minimum basis of good' conduct on the roads in the interests of public safely and the free flow of traffic on the roads. If, therefore, the laws are not being observed it means plainly that the public safety is being endangered and the movement of traffic impeded. The protection of human life and limb is a well-recognised function of the modern State, while the smooth flow of road traffic is now an economic and social necessity, hence the widespread efforts that are made to secure observance of the traffic laws.” The machinery for securing the enforcement of the traffic laws in the Dominion is summarised by the report as consisting- of the'* following;— “(a) The traffic inspectors, under the control of the Transport Department. In general, these officers have control of the main highways and the rural roads; (b) the traffic inspectors under the control of local authorities. These officers have control of the roads and streets in the larger boroughs; and (c) the police officers, who assist generally in the enforcement of the laws in" such cases as come under their notice. Traffic Offences Bureau “Up till the end of September, 1937; the traffic inspectors attached to the department t-ok cases against offending motorists on their own initiative. As from October 1, 1937, the inspectors handed each offender on the spot a traffic offence notice, which sets out the full details of the alleged offence and explains that the offender may, if he so - desires, submit an explanation direct to the Commissioner of Transport, who will decide whether or not a prosecution will be taken. “The principal advantages of the new scheme are, first, that it would tend to result in a uniform policy as regards prosecutions: second, a motorist is notified of the offence when it occurs or as soon as possible thereafter, and is given an opportunity of submitting an explanation before a prosecution is decided on; and, third, the traffic offence notices provide a national record of prosecutions and warnings. Knowing this, the motorists would tend to pay more respect to the observance of the law. “It is interesting to note that out of 483 persons who were warned and not prosecuted, only two were subsequently reported for further offences.”