LIGHTING-UP TIMES

Evening Post, Volume CXXII, Issue 153, 26 December 1936, Page 18

LIGHTING-UP TIMES

Sunday 8.27 p.m. Monday 8.27 p.m. Tuesday 8.27 p.m. Wednesday 8.28 p.m. Thursday 8.28 p.m. Friday 8.28 p.m. Saturday 8.28 p.m.

In his intention to issue the Highway Code to every house in New Zealand the Minister of Transport, the Hon. R. Semple, is only following ths precedent set by the British Minister, Mr. Hore-Belisha. When Mr. HoreBelisha took the step of sending the code to every householder in Britain he brought upon himself a good deal of ridicule in certain quarters on the principle that you can take a horse to water but cannot make him drink. The Minister, however, was right'and the ridicule misplaced.

it is a thirsty horse with which Mr. Semple has to deal. The horse may not realise that it is thirsty, and probably won't drink, but Mr. Semple is not responsible for that. If the horse does not drink, well, it may be necessary to do something to make him drink.

There is no obligation on the Minister to make "the code known; it

is sufficient on his part to bring it into force. But Mr. Semple, with Mr. Hore-Belisha, in his eagerness to make the roads safer than they have hitherto been, brings the water to the horse. Hitherto rules and regulations have only been accessible to the people by payment, direct or indirect—that is, by direct purchase or by joining some such organisation as the Automobile Association or following the Press. Mr. Semple, however, intends to put them free into everybody's hands; all that is left then is to read them, and having read them make them known to anyone in the house unable to read and learn for. themselves.

There is a big difference between laws such as the Highway Code and law in general. It is a common saying that law is for the lawbreaker; but here that is not so. The Highway Code is not a matter of right and wrong, of ethics, morals, or anything of that kind. It is the adoption of certain courses, quite arbitrarily, with the sole intent of achieving a uniformity of practice that will enable everyone to know what it is he has to do, and what everyone else is going to do. The code cannot succeed unless it is voluntarily accepted, and voluntarily put into execution. No police force in the world, anywhere, has yet proved adequate to enforcing traffic regulations, or is ever likely to be. It is up to the public, then, to study the code and put it into effect for the general good. Mention has been made of those unable to read the code themselves. This includes children. There is no need to emphasise here the desirableness of parents teaching their children, but what we would like to do is to throw out a. reminder that there are schools and school teachers, and express the hope that the Transport Department will not forget the schoolrooms when it sends the code around.