TO CATCH THE ROADHOG

Dominion, Volume 18, Issue 191, 8 May 1924, Page 8

TO CATCH THE ROADHOG

4 A FLYING INSPECTOR FOR THE HUTT ROAD OFFICIAL TO USE FAST MOTORCYCLE It is generally conceded that if all or any motorists are to be allowed to speed as they like on the new bitumen track along the Hutt Road, that highway to the country will soon become one of evil reputation.. It is probable that at tho next meeting of the Hutt R-oad Board a suggestion will bo made to appoint at once an inspector, who, instead of raising a warning hand from a standing position, will be mounted on a fast motor-cycle equipped with a properly tested speedometer, which will at once show how fast any motorist is travelling, and at the same time will enable the inspector to identify the offender against the speed laws now being framed. This method of guarding the safety of the public is* only a reversion to the practice of a form of inspection which was actually in force on the Hutt Road four or five years- ago. The official on that occasion was Inspector McCarthy, who believes still that it is the only form of inspection likely to prove effective, and refers to the manner in which he was able to detect any offender against the by-laws as disclosed by the records of the S.M. Court at that time. In California this method of inspection by plain-clothes men on fast mo-tor-cycles is general. There an inspector carries with him a book of summons forms, which he. as a special police officer, is able to issue on the spot to any offender. Thi a summons calls upon the offending motorist to appear at the Court at a given time the next day, when, if the decision goes against him. he is substantially fined, and should he fail to appear without valid reason ho is liable to a term of imprisonment -without the option of a fine. It was recorded quite recently that a well-known kinema actress was caught speeding a second time, and was given a week’s imprisonment, which she declared had quite cured her of “stepping on the gas.”