POWER TO ARREST MOTORISTS

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22492, 29 August 1938, Page 7

POWER TO ARREST MOTORISTS

PROPOSAL FOR TRAFFIC

INSPECTORS

OPPOSITION BY NORTH ISLAND

MOTOR UNION

(PBESS ASSOCIATION- TEX.EGEAM.)

HAWERA, August 27.

Objection to the proposed legislation to give traffic inspectors the power of arresting drunken motorists was expressed at the annual conference of the North Island Motor Union at Hawera yesterday. . Opinion was divided. The majority held that such legislation would be an encroachment on the liberty of the motoring public and others contended that motorists had nothing to fear. Mr R. W. Roydhouse (Wairarapa) moved that the granting of power of arrest to traffic inspectors be opposed. 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 oft 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 review 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.