Safety groups call for licence photos

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33676, 28 October 1974, Page 14

Safety groups call for licence photos

Photographs on driving licences were strongly favoured by representatives of road safety organisations at a national conference in Christchurch on Saturday.

The conference passed a motion that photographs on licences should be mandatory, and that a driver must produce such a licence whenever required to do so by a constable or traffic officer. A note to the remit said that police and traffic officers were often given false information which led to lengthy and frustrating inquiries. A check of the registered owner of a vehicle might reveal that it was registered under another name and perhaps sold several times without the changes of ownership having been recorded. Licences were sometimes used illegally by a disqualified or unlicensed driver. Duplicate licences could be obtained by completing a simple declaration and pay-

ing 35c. “A traffic officer’s function is primarily accident prevention, and this means being on patrol — not carrying out inquiries and trying to locate offenders who have supplied incorrect or misleading information which could have been detected if there had betXi proper identification,’’ the conference was told. Other remits passed included: that the Ministry of Transport should consider increasing the number of unmarked patrol cars in all districts; that if a person drove while disqualified the penalty automatically should be imprisonment; that the processes of the law should be speeded up to deal with charges of dangerous and reckless driving, driving under the influence of alcohol, and other charges carrying the liability of imprisonment. The conference set up an Association of New Zealand Road Safety Committees to take the place of the recently dissolved New Zealand Road Safety Council. Elected as president of the national body was Mr G. Kirkbride, of Hamilton. Mr T. McCleary, of Christchurch, was elected as vice-president, and Mr H. G. Fantham. also of Christchurch, as secretary. Other

South Island members of the executive are Messrs H. S. Howard (Greymouth), W. J. Penno (Waimate) and R. Whittington (Blenheim).