MOTOR-CAR OWNERS

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 262, 1 August 1929, Page 13

MOTOR-CAR OWNERS

COMPILATION OF LIST EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS SOLD Ah announcement that the Post and Telegraph Department had let by public tender the exclusive right to compile, publish and distribute a list of the names and addresses of the registered owners of motor-vehicles, was made in the House of Representatives yesterday by the Postmaster-General (Hon. J. B. Donald) in reply to a question by Mr. R, A, .Wright (Wellington Suburbs). The Minister stated that the list did not include plate-numbers of the vehicles, and wopld therefore be of no use to local authorities. The compilation annually of a list of the owners of motor-vehicles, with the plate-numbers, would occupy such a considerable amount of time that the list would not be available until well on ip the year. By the time it was pub- -' lished the list would he unreliable. An average number of over two hundred changes of ownership was notified daily and to keep the list up-to-date supplementary lists would require to be issued at least weekly. Names of owners of motorvehicles were supplied, on application, by Deputy Registrars to local bodies concerned. A central register, comprising all vehicles registered in the Dominion, was kept in Wellington. The name of an owner of a motor-vehicle registered at an office other than the local one, was obtainable without delay direct from the Registrar of Motor-Vehicles, of Wellington. Local bodies made extensive use of both the local and central registers, and, judging by the absence of complaint, the system adequately met requirements.