AN AMERICAN STORY.

Ellesmere Guardian, Volume XLV, Issue 3078, 8 April 1927, Page 2

AN AMERICAN STORY.

Bearing tho captions, "Gotta Be Good to Get License," "They're Pretty Strict in New Zealand," the follow-

ing interesting comment on the issue of motor drivers' licenses in the Dominion appeared in a recent issue of the San Francisco Chronicle: —

"Obtaining a license to drive an automobile in Nev/ Zealand is far from being a mere formality, as is the case iv more populous countries, according to a letter received by Owen McCuskcr from a dealer in Auckland. According to the letter, in that part of the Antipodes there is one automobile to every family of five members, and tho man

or woman who cannot drive a car conceals the fact as disgraceful. "The authorities who grant drivinglicenses generally set a high standard. The sort of test imposed is left to the examiner, who, in many places, and almost invariably in the country districts, is the local constable. "The dealer points out that at one village in Canterbury the constable has incurred the enmity of several business men who own cars. He takes them and their cars into a small back yard dotted with tall cans, and orders them to steer an irregular course amid these obstacles. Those who succeed in crossing the lot are greeted with a somewhat spiteful smile and ordered to repeat the t'ripiu reverse gear. Failure results in a denial of the driver's license, which is necessary to legally pilot an automobile. Law enforcement officers in« NewZealand spend a considerable part ot their time arresting respected and venerable farmers who have been refused drivers' licenses and who refuse to give

up their cars."