REASONABLE CONTROL

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 150, 22 December 1938, Page 8

REASONABLE CONTROL

The decision given by Mr. J. H. Luxford, S.M., upholding the validity of the Wellington City bylaw which prohibits motorists driving past trams which have stopped to take up or set down passengers is of interest to both motorists and pedestrians. The bylaw has been in force for a number of years, and its validity and desirability have not hitherto been seriously challenged. Generally,, motorists have accepted the regulation in the right spirit, recognising that in a city where some of the main streets are narrow and traffic often congested such a provision is necessary as a safeguard against accident. In their interpretation of the bylaw traffic officers and others responsible for exercising control in the streets have not been unduly oppressive and motorists have not been delayed unnecessarily. Motormen and conductors almost invariably adopt the practice of waving motorists on when the progress of tramcars is delayed and when it is possible to do so without endangering the safety of pedestrians. Effective control of traffic in a busy city is essential in the interests of safety, and this bylaw, if given the reasonable interpretation it has had in the past, contributes to such safety. It has sometimes been suggested that the rule might be relaxed in wider streets, but an important condition of traffic control is that there should be the minimum of confusion. Provided the bylaw is administered in the future as. reasonably as it has been in the past, there should be noj hardship on motorists, and pedestrians will be able to continue to usej the streets with a full measure of confidence.