MOTOR LICENSING

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXII, 28 January 1939, Page 8

MOTOR LICENSING

CENTRAL RECORD SYSTEM DESCRIBED larger office acquired 'I lie Motor Vehicles Registration branch o r the General Post Office recently movei into larger quarters in the spacious uew building of the Government Life Insurance Office, Wellington. It. has outgrown the accommodation in the General Post Office, and (tie reason is to be found in the fact that when the work of registration began in 1924, there were approMmateJy 90.0 CW vehicles on the record j the largest total is 350,000. New Zealand is second only to America as the greatest motor using community in the world. The United States, according to recent (igures, has one vehicle for every four of population and New Zealand's proportion ia one for every six; motor-vehicles per road miJe number 9.3 in the United Mates and 3.4 in New Zealand. Registration and annual relicenaiug of motor-vehicles is regarded in moat countries of the world as highly important. There is, for instance, the necessity of' tracing owners of vehicles involved in accidents and, ao far as New Zealand ia concerned, the third-party insurance fe# scheme is closely linked with the renewal of licenses. A yearly contact is thus main, tajned with the motorist, ami thus enables the register to be kept reasonably up lo date. Detailed information regarding every registered motor-vehicle in the Dominion is contained in the records at headquarters, and motor ownership in New Zealand is now so extensive that it is not surprising to find that the card index of all licenses, and the files relating to every vehicle on the register occupy two long lines of cabinets extending from front lo back of one of Wellington's largest buildings. As there are 357 registration centres distributed throughout the Dominion fo- the convenience of motorists, the records are decentralised to a great extent. However, the motor-vehicle has ao wide a , range that a national register is essential |to secure prompt information regarding individual vehicles. I The particulars of registered vehicles ' are recorded on cards, the whole register being, in fact, a loose leaf ledger. Cards are kept in numerical order of the license number for the current year, and as these numerical groups are changed annually, this involves a corresponding rearrangement of the national register. In addition to the card index of li- ! censes, there is a separate file for each j motor-vehicle so that, regardless of own- | erghip changes, its history can be traced throughout its working life. The turn. | over in motors is remarkably high each ! year for in the recent twelve months no j fewer than 155.776 ownership changes ! were notified. Over a long period the re- ! i ords show that June is the peak point of • i lisnge. L-ist June's record of notifies- | I ions of this class totalling 15.560. Own- | ei\* are unable to relicense until they hav* 1 complied with the law relating to notification of ownership change, hence the rush at that time of the year. The motor owner is not legally entitled to use a vehicle unless lie is in possession of a ceri tificate of registration endorsed in his j own name. It is possible through this central record to trace all the changes of j ownership of a vehicle from the time of j its original registration. A complete raj cord of motor owners is kept separate ly in alphabetical order.