OBJECTION FROM MOTOR UNION

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22491, 27 August 1938, Page 3

OBJECTION FROM MOTOR UNION

POWERS OF TRAFFIC INSPECTORS

PROPOSED EXTENSION

DISAPPROVED

(tress association telegram.)

HAWERA, August 26.

Objection to the proposed legislation to give traffic inspectors the power of arrest of drunken motorists was expressed at the annual conference of the North Island Motor Union at Hawera this morning. Opinion was divided. The majority held that such legislation would be an encroachment on the liberty of the motoring public while others contended that motorists had nothing to fear. • Mr R. W. Roydhouse (Wairarapa) moved that the power of arrest by traffic inspectors be rejected. He said that the regulations provided the inspectors with power to stop any driver incapable of driving and also to remove the vehicle from the road. The power of arrest was therefore not necessary. Mr W. O. Williams (South Taranaki) suggested that the police were quite capable of handling the situation. Mr E. Palliser (Wellington) said that the inspectors had no power to remove an offender from a car and in the case of an intoxicated driver an inspector would have to go away to call a policeman, and in the meantime the man could drive off and possibly kill someone. The saving of life was worth more to motorists than a few wrongful arrests. Mr F. A. Moore (New Plymouth) and Mr A. E. Batt (Wellington) considered that the inspectors.should have the necessary authority to force drunken drivers off the road. • The inspectors did not have the necessary training, said Mr G. W. Hutchinson (Auckland). He thought the police could best handle the situation This view was supported by Mr A. E. Renouf (Hawke's Bay).

The union did not want to protect drunken motorists, but to protect members from indignity to which they might be subjected, said Mr A. S. Burgess (Wanganui). Dr. S. A. Gibbs (South Island Motor Union) said that his union had come to the decision that, in the interests of motorists themselves, the power of arrest should be given to inspectors, especially in country districts. Special training however was necessary.

On being put to the vote there was a substantial majority against the proposal.

N.Z. CONFERENCE

PROPOSED

REMITS ADOPTED BY NORTH ISLAND MOTOR UNION

(press association telegbam.)

HAWERA, August 26.

A proposal to establish a Dominion motor conference was discussed at the annual conference of the North Island Motor Union to-day. The matter is to be referred to sub-committees of representatives of the North Island Motor Union and the South Island Motor Union which are to report to the half-yearly meeting. A report presented by Mr A. R. Grayson (Auckland) and Mr G. Laurence (South Taranaki) recommended a scheme to enable the motor unions to speak with one voice on national affairs and to provide opportunities for the representatives of all associations in the Dominion to develop a consistency of objects and outlook.

It was suggested that the conferences at present held in each island be replaced by an all-New Zealand meeting to be held alternatively in the

North and South Islands and that the conference do not have executive powers but that its decisions be in the nature of recommendations to the respective unions. The following remits were adopted: That the union make representation to the Government for the inauguration of compulsory education in schools with regard to safety-first (Wellington); that for free legal defence service each association appoint a solicitor in those centres where a Magistrate's Court sat and notify the union of the names and addresses of such appointees and that each solicitor so appointed >e instructed by his association to employ as his agent where the services of an agent were required the solicitor appointed by the Automobile Association (Taranaki); that as ordinary plate glass is being used in the windscreens of certain cars assembled in the Dominion the matter be referred to the Commissioner for Transport (Wellington). The election of officers resulted: — President, Dr. E. E. Porritt (Wanga-

nui); vice-presidents, Messrs A, R. Grayson (Auckland) and J. H. Edmundson (Napier); council, Messrs F. G. Farrell (Auckland), W. T. Guild (Taranaki), C. R. Honeyfield (South Taranaki), A. S. Burgess (Wanganui), W. H. Brown (Manawatu), J. W. Roydhouse (Wairarapa), E. Palliser (Wellington), and Dr. W. D. Fitzgerald (Hawke's Bay): delegates to the South Island Motor Union conference, Messrs A. E. Batt and Grayson.