"KIDS" ON "SCOOTERS"

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 147, 23 June 1928, Page 18

"KIDS" ON "SCOOTERS"

A REGULATION JOKE ' ' IJast week there appeared in these columns an account of the new French . traffic regulations aa viewed through American ey.es,, and for .that matter French eyes also. It was a case of begin with the baby, There was no suggestion, however, of controlling the Baby, tut only of educating it. In New Zealand, apparently, we can do better. Baby can be made subject to bylaw. A few days .ago in the Magistrate's Court Mr. Maunsell is reported as saying that he ."did not know the exact position, or whether the bylaw made provision for scooters. ■ . In: his opin- ( ion there ought* to be a bylaw govering the .movements of scooters of all descriptions." Is Mr. Maunsell serious, or has the reporter missed his point? Was it mere irony? It IS quite certain that if the Magistrate is ignorant of the present position our\babies are hardly likely to .be less so. The question, however, is would our babies be any the wiser if a'formal bylaw were, introduced. Ignorance- of the law is no defence, as wo adults are all very well aware, even hero in Wellington where it is impossible to procure a copy of the bylaws to find out what they are. The law holds'l that people should make themselves acquainted with its provisions, but it is a bit tough to expect that our mites on scooters aro to be similarly regarded. Truly wo must be regulation mad. Ono could understand a Magistrate suggesting an abolition of scooters,' but to suggest that their "movements-' should be governed by regulation is quite another matter. A correspondent apparently considers that Mr. Maunsell meant abolition. This raises quite a different problem. '-.How far are we going to go in this matter of .abolition? We can only go

as far as tho public will let us, and here, we are up.against a stono wall. There is a type of motorist about who wants to abolish everythingj i.e., everything but himself, but wiser heads realise the impossibility of getting the streets clear. "Autos" has stressed before the fact that our cities .were not planned for modern traffic,' and there must be give and take. If the children are, to leave.the: streets there must be somewhere for them to go, and there is nowhere. Every residential block requires a playground; it is the only way out of the difficulty, and even then would not prov,e sufficient. The truth is-that half of the motorist's troubles are of his own making. Quite candidly, "Autos" is fully persuaded that many of the cars going about the streets are not under efficient control. Control depends on .the driver. It is not a matter of speed, but of capacity to drive, and until something is done to .weed out the inefficient and dangerous, accidents are going to take place. There is 'too- much tendency in motor circles to place alii the blame on the other fellow. "Live and let live" is a motto that motorists might well lay to heart; there is not the slightest reason for their dashing, around the way they do. Plenty of people on foot are in a much bigger hurry really, but are content to accept things as they are, and the motorist might do .worse than take a leaf out of their book and-extend a little consideration. ■: • '••, ■ . :