MOTORING MATTERS.

Gisborne Times, Volume XLIX, Issue 4965, 4 September 1918, Page 6

MOTORING MATTERS.

CARELESS AND INCOMPETENT DRIVERS. MAGISTRATE’S PLEA FOR PRECAUTIONS. MOTOR ASSOCIATION RESOLUTION ENDORSED. "To allow boys of that age to drive motor cars is & positive danger to the community,” remarked Mr. W. A. Barton, S.M., yesterday when a fifteen years old boy informed him that he had been driving a motor oar since he was thirteen years of age. Diving judgment in the case later, Mr Barton referred to the fact that in Christchurch a regulation forbade children under the age of sixteen to drive cars and remarked that lie thought the regulation a wise one. He added that in his opinion no person whatever should be allowed to drive a motor car until he had passed a satisfactory test. “Accidents due to negligent* driving are becoming too frequent in Gisborne and other places,” he continued,“and if drivers who had passed a test would only observe the rule of the road and drive at a moderate rate of speed there would be very few accidents. It was very necessary that substantial penalties should be inllicted in cases of conviction as a warning.”

It is interesting to note that the fact that motorists are not at present licensed after having to pass a satisfactory test is not the fault of the representatives of motorists themselves. The Poverty Bay Motor Association realised the danger to which Mr Barton referred. It was considered that incompetent drivers are not only a danger to the public but to other motorists and with that thought in mind the Association passed a resolution on all fours- with the Magistrate’s suggestion. The resolution, which was submitted to various local bodies in the district, was as follows: —

“That it be a recommendation to all local bodies that all drivers of motor cars should be licensed and that a licensing fee of half-a-crown should be charged to coyer expenses. The Association l'eel that such a step would be a protection to the public from the danger that arises from the carelessness and incompetency of some drivers” The motion was considered at the meeting of the Waikohu County hist month and w-as most favourably received when Or Bridge drew attention to the fact that motorists would have to pass a test before being granted licenses. The Motor Association's resolution was also submitted to the Cook County Council but at its iast- meeting that authority declined to adopt the suggestion of the Motor Association by merely allowing the letter to b a “received.” It will l)« interesting to see whether the comments made by the Magistrate—which though not specificially intending to do so, thoroughly endorse the resolution passed by the Motor Association —will have the effect- of causing local bodies throughout the district to affirm the general principle of control over motorists, The license to drive a motor car might, with advantage, be governed by°rcgulations similar to those in Britain where a motorist’s license is endorsed oil his being convicted for a contravention of the regulations, which, after all, were made for the safety of the general -public and motorists alike. In England, power to suspend such licenses is given to Magistrates, which, in effect, means that if a license is endorsed frequently for minor offences, or once for a serious offence, the motorist is forbidden by law to drive a motor car.