TESTS FOR DRIVERS

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 148, 25 June 1938, Page 10

TESTS FOR DRIVERS

UNIFORMITY LACKING

DRIVING WITHOUT LICENCES

HEAVIER PENALTIES

The Road Safety Council is definitely of the opinion that steps must be taken to bring about a more uniform standard of testing drivers before licences are issued, and that heavier penalties should be imposed upon those convicted of driving without licences.

Mr. G. L. Laurenson, Commissioner of Transport, said at the last meeting of the council that the Department's inspectors and the four main city councils had been circularised asking for suggestions which would make for an improvement of the regulations and the testing of applicants. The replies received indicated that the regulations were generally satisfactory, but that they were not being rigidly observed by all testing officers.

Mr. Laurenson submitted a list of present testing officers classified according to occupation. The diversity was great, for the list included farmers, hotelkeepers, salesmen, taxi proprietors, doctors, and butchers.

All the Department's full-time inspectors had been appointed testing officers and were carrying out tests on behalf of local authorities in a large number of areas, when requests were made by the local authorities concerned.

TOWARDS UNIFORMITY. An endeavour had been made to arrange for a more or less standardised test by all the Department's officers and requirements of the regulations in this regard were rigidly observed. The position regarding local body testing officers had been reviewed, and the Minister's approval had been-obtained to revoke all the existing appointments of other than full-time local body employees, and to restrict future appointments to suck persons.

The proposed Transport Bill made provision for the Department to assume traffic control in all rural and semiurban areas, and if this legislation was passed by Parliament, no tests would be carried out by other than departmental officers, except in the larger towns where the position was at present reasonably satisfactory, he said. Until this legislation was passed, nothing further could be done along these lines, although the Department was co-operating with those local authorities who were prepared to avail themselves of the services of the Department's officers. WIDE DISPARITY IN TESTS. The matter was one of grave Importance, said Mr. J. F. Cousins, and he was a little disappointed that more progress had not been madel An improvement in the control had been effected, but if they could teach the driver the fundamental principles, they would reap a lot of benefit from it later oh. There was a tremendous disparity in the tests. First of all, the testing officers had to be cleaned up. There was one great weakness in the New Zealand system; it was possible today for anyone to drive a car down Willis Street so long as there was a certificated driver sitting beside him. In Eng- j land, before anyone could attempt to 1 drive, he had to hold a provisional licence, and the learner had to go up for his test within three months. The provisional licence system, he understood, worked very well in England. Beginners had to be taught to drive in traffic fairly quickly to be any good, and when they applied for a provisional licence they could be put through any physical test necessary and could be shut out right away if they had physical disabilities. In England the letter "L" was also placed on the. back of a car when a learner was driving. Another fault in the New Zealand system was. that the average driver. When he got his licence, regarded It as a sort of diploma of merit; really all it meant was that he was considered safe to go out by himself, but he would have to improve ,greatly. No question of provisional licences will be discussed at the next meeting of the full council. FIVE SHILLINGS AND COSTS. Dr. J. W. Mcllraith, representing the Education Department, raised the question of the insufficiency of penalties for convictions for driving without licences. Offenders were being fined 5s and 10s costs, and were sometimes merely convicted and discharged without a penalty. He thought that the law should be tightened up and a minimum as well as a maximum penalty fixed. The Commissioner said that the Courts responded to public opinion, and if the council felt that a resolution should be passed stressing*the seriousness of the offence and that it was con-, sidered that driving without a licence was a serious offence and a menace to public safety, it would have an effect on the Court. A resolution expressing those views was proposed by Dr. Mcllraith and was carried unanimously.