TRAFFIC CONTROL

Evening Post, Volume CXVIII, Issue 20, 24 July 1934, Page 10

TRAFFIC CONTROL

CHANGES PROPOSED

OUTLINE OF AMENDMENTS

SPEED REGULATIONS

Important amendments to the Motor Vehicles Act, 1924, dealing with motor traffic and other traffic in relation to motor' traffic have been drafted under the direction of the Commissioner of Transport (Mr. J. 5... Hunter), and because of their | far-reaching nature the Gov-1 eminent "has decided to gi vo all interested sections of the community every opportunity to examine tho proposals before finally preparing legislation for submission to Parliament this session. "The rapid development of motor traffic, with, the.consequential improvement in highways, brought about new conditions which' called for laws of general application, and resulted in the passing of the Motor Vehicles Act 19*4 an Act to provide for the registration' licensing and regulation of the use of motor vehicles," states Mr. Hunter «\ perusal o f thig Act j^;™^ its intention was clearly to provide i law of universal application £ respect of the use of motor, vehicles, while at the same time being sufficiently flexible to provide for any special conditonsi that may exist in any part of the Dominion. ' LOCAL BODY LAWS. ti.l'JV'^i bc?T e aPParont at that time that local body boundaries had no significance in the scope of operation of- motor-vehicles, and what applied in. 1084 applies with infinitely gieater force today when the enormous increase, in motor-vehicles and tl.o standard of roads are taken into account. Motor traffic is now Dominionwide in its extent and has developed to such a degree that steps should bo taken to review -both the national and local body laws that are in existence applying to road traffic. ' "It may here be mentioned that although very full powers aro vested1 in the Government under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1924, local authorities still havo independent powers under the Public Works Act,"* tho Municipal Corporations Act, and the Counties Act to make bylaws. These latter powers have been availed of, und most local authorities havo enacted bylaws dealing with motor traffic, with the result that considerable confusion exists in the mind of the road useT- as to what tho legal position may be. It would appear that the time has arrived when tho regulation of road traffic should be covered by a universal set of regulati6ns with provisions to enable local authorities to have special circumstances provided for where justified. Under the proposal contained in the draft the Minister is enabled to review the provisions of any bylaws in existence or passed in tho future and take such action as he.may.think fit by disallowance or modification to conserve the national policy that may be laid down. QUESTION OF SPEED. "Although tho 'foregoing comments have a bearing on the'question of speed, it is desirable at. this stage to indicate the policy the Department intends to advocate in respect of this highly-con-troversial matter. In the first place, it may be mentioned that therp are no specific speed limits laid down in the Motor Vehicles Act, 1924, but section 36 (n) empowers the Governor-General in Council by regulation to,.fix, for the better preservation of the roads and streets or for the safety of .the public, the maximum speed of motor vehicles. "Regulations are now in force under this latter provision fixing a speed limit of 40 miles per hour over non-'dustless roads and setting forth a table of lessor speeds, the exceeding of which throws the onus on the driver to proVe that ho was riot driving to the common danger. Tho two most important provisions of the table of speeds are what are commonly known as the prima facie speed limits of 35 miles per hour on rural roads and 25 miles per hour in boroughs' and town districts. In addition to the Government regulations mentioned, there are numerous—probably hundreds—of local body bylaws fixing speed limits from 10 miles per hour upwards. DIFFERENT PROBLEMS. "Tho Transport Department is of the opinion that the problem in respect of rural roads is entirely different from that arising in boroughs and townships. .It is satisfied that tho principal factor that has to be seriously considered at the present time in connection with motor-car speeds (excluding heavy traffic) on dustless rural roads is safety, and that there is not the same necessity for a regulation to specifically provido for this factor on rural roads in addition to sections 27 and 28 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1924, as oxists in boroughs and townships. "The position in boroughs and townships is, however, quite different. Motor transport lias now become so universal and countrywide in its , extent that drivers cannot bo expected to have an intimate knowledge of the potential danger, existing in every borough and township. This state of affairs has been recognised up to1 tho present and is reflected in the largo number 'of bylaws in existence. ENGLISH COMMENT. "In this respect, it is of interest to quote the comments of Mr. Oliver Stanley, Minister of Transport in ' Great Britain, in his recent speech in the House of Commons on th'o- Road Traffic Act, 1934. It will be remembered that the Road Traffic Act, 1930, abolished speed limits in Great Britain and the Road Traffic Act, 1934, rcimppsed a speed limit of 30 miles per hour in built-up areas. Commenting on this, a report of Mr. Stanley's remarks, is as follows:—"Mr Morrison's Act had failed in the long run to reduce accidents, and_it wns clear that they had to start again. On speed as a factor in accidents Mr. Stanley's summing-up was that it reduced the power to deal with tho unexpected. It was in the builtup areas, all houses and crossings, where the unexpected usually happened. On the open road, with no houses, no crossings, and hundreds of yards of visibility, they could bo; almost certain that the. unexpected would not happen." "It would appear from the above that discipline is highly essential in order to secure a measure of safety and that a national policy on the question of speeds could be laid down somewhat along the following lines:— "(a) Dustless rural roads: Driving? to the common danger. "(b) Boroughs and townships: Statutory speed limit of 30 miles per hour. " (c) Power to make regulations or bylaws to' meet exceptional circumstances with Minister's prior consent. In most cases prescribed signposts would bo essential. TRAILERS. "A general speed limit of 30 miles per hour is proposed for motor-cars drawing trailers. This would follow somewhat the practice in Great Britain, where the statutory speed limit for mo-tor-cars drawing two-wheeled trailers is 30 miles per hour and .four-wheeled trailers 20 miles per hour. A good deal of careful study has been given to this question in view of the increasing number of trailers in use, and there is a general acceptance of the view

that regulation of some kind is necessary. Under the existing conditions it is not necessary for trailers to have independent brakes if under two tons in weight, but as amending regulations will -make it necessary,for motor vehicles drawing trailers,, to fulfil the stopping ability requirements'' as laid down for motor vehicles without trailers* the tendency will be to have brakes installed on all trailers. 1 ONUS OF PROOF. "The adoption of a policy along the lines indicated above would entirely relieve the motorist of the 'onus of proof imposed upon him under the existing regulations, and instead of having to show that he was not driving to the common danger, the <-nus would rest upon the prosecuting -authority to prove that he was. The question has been raised on uiore than one occasion as to whether it is reasonable to throw the 'onus of proof upon a motorist (ta prove that if he exceeded p, certain speed he was not driving to the common danger), and it has been contended that the principle of the 'onus of proof should not apply in cases of the kind, as the offender would seldom, if ever, be aware of all the circumstances surrounding the occasion to enable him to discharge the onus of proof. . "It may be mentioned that the table of speeds laid down for heavy vehicles under the Heavy Lorry Regulations would not be altered in any way by the above-mentioned proposals as speeds for heavy traffic are formulated under another statute. ' PEDESTRIAN AND OTHER TRAFFIC. "An amendment to the statute is contained in the draft conferring power on the Government to make regulations for the control of pedestrian and other traffic in relation to motor traffic. This follows the steps taken in Great Britain recently in the amendment to the Road Traffic Act, more particularly with regard to crossing places ■ for pedestrians. As is commonly known, a large percentage of motor accidents involve pedestrians,, and. in the majority of these cases.the accidents occur where traffic is dense. Experience gained in other countries shows that despite increased numbers of vehicles there has not been anything like corresponding, increase in accidents where pedestrians have been involved in areas properly regulated with set crossing places. . "So far as tho regulation of other forms of vehicular traffic is concerned,' the recent court case involving the 'offside rule' went to show the danger of confusion, unless some of the fundamental motor traffic rules were applied to other traffic on , the roads. In the case in point, the position now is that whilst, for instance, motorists must give way to all traffic approaching from the right, there is no legal responsibility on the drivers of other kind's of vehicles or on push cycles to follow the same practice. . ; ■' : • •-.. BICYCLE REFLECTORS. "For some time past dissatisfaction has been expressed by road users in respect of bicycles, and the necessity for adequate regulation .of this traffic is universally recognised. Under the provisions of the Lights on Vehicles Act, 1915, it is necessary for bicycles to1 carry a light forward and a red reflector on the back. No particular design or specification for the reflector is laid down, however, and the result'is well known. 4 lt is of interest to note that the Road Traffic Act passed in Great Britain recently provides that in addition to a red reflector power is. taken to have portion of the bicycles painted white. ■■'' .'■■ : .».'•■ ■■-~-- "It is the intention in the Dominion, if the proposals are approved, to require both the painted portion and the fixing of a red reflector—visible to traffic approaching from the rear—of dimensions and design which -must be approved and gazetted. It would appear essential also that some attention . should be directed to bicycle traffic on the roads, as there can bo no doubt that grave danger is created by the practice of several cyclists riding abreast. On roads and streets covered with dark pavements this practice is extremely dangerous, particularly in wet .weather after dark when drivers of motor vehicles are subject to. dazzle by oncoming traffic. ■ • ■'■''.. ■ ' -.' "The closest collaboration with local authorities would be observed in framing regulations for the fixing of crossing places for pedestrians and the control of road traffic in their area's, as the Government fully realises that only by combined effort -will it be possible to secure a greater measure of safety than exists at the present time. Should the proposaVbe proceeded with, local authorities will be' specially requested to submit schemes, and every opportunity will be afforded for full discussion before regulations are made."