TRAFFIC REGULATION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11644, 4 May 1901, Page 6

TRAFFIC REGULATION.

', AN IMPORTANT DECISION. ' At the Police Court yesterday Mr. T. Fititchi- . son, S.M., gave judgment in the case of Turner v. James Cutler, one of a series 1 brought by the city traffic inspector in con- : nection with the regulation of the 'bus traffic. , The by-laws in question are so fa; as material . in these terms-. "27. No borough stage cari riage shall leave any standing for use as a i borough stage carriage save in such succes- . sioa turn as snail have been appointed as aforesaid, i.e., by some regulation in thttf behalf." The regulation referred to in effect provides that city stage carriages shall start and run at the time and from the respective stand endorsed on their respective licenses. It was admitted that the defendants did riot start their 'buses at their severally appointed times. It was first objected that the appointed times were not in fact endorsed as require:! by the bylaw. The defendants ('aid His Worship") were in a di- ' lemma here, because if, as contended, the eudorsation of times is an integral part of the license, and there was, in fact, no endorsation, they were open to the charge of p!mj with unlicensed vehicles. As a fact, now" ever, in the licenses issue:! by the City Council the by-law was sought to be complied with by , annexing to the back of the license a print*-? time-table, containing the appointed times of the 'bus licensed, with those or other licensed 'buses, and by an incorporating reference endorsed on the license. Though a clumsy, it was a legally sufficient compliance. What was mainly contended was that as the by-laws, literally interpreted, enjoin the endorsement on the license of each 'bu.3 its own times of starting, and so by plain inference confine the running of each 'bus. they enact a procedure which is unworkable. What the contention really amounted to was that it was impossible for 'busownere to run 'buses on these lines-, because in the exigencies of their business they must have power to substitute one 'bus for another, and the by-law. strictly interpreted, would prevent this. But, however inconvenient the operation of tho bylaw, the objection was a personal one. and did not touch its legal sufficiency. There must be something in the objection if the busowne. was bound to run his 'buses, but it was admitted that there was no such duty, either by way of contract with the City Council o, otherwise. The traffic ensured the busowner running his 'bus in his own commercial interests. The slip-shod wav .n which the endorsement times re complied with lent itself to the defeat of anv rigid enforcement of the by-law. If it were otherwise, there was nothing to prevent a new bur being at once licensed to take up the running on the times so intermitted. I, -he practical difficulties which the strict interpretation of the by-law might occasion tho busowner were greater and more substantial he did not know upon what principle he could invalidate a by-law because it clashed with purely personal interests. These considerations applied to all tho cases before the tour:; but those in which the 'bus licenses are licenses issued by the Parnell Borough Council introduce another complication. He must take it that these licenses suffice under tti£- statute to enable the 'buses so licensed to ply in the city, but they have no appointed t.mes 01 starting from the city endorsed j under the city by-law. It seemed to him I that it vehicles legally licensed elsewhere chose to ply within the city, they must conform to the city traffic by-laws. Assuming tjat m the case of a city license it is aa essential part of it that appointed times s.,ould be endorsed upon it, did that hold so wiit, regard to licenses issued by neighbouring boroughs? Put otherwise,'can tho! City Council treat as unlicensed a 'bus plying under a Parnell license which has appointed starting times in the city endorsed upon it' '< He thought not. It wa.s plain that the license I issued by the Parnell Council was a com- • plete and good license as it stood. Obviously, \ too, that Council could not. when issuing I the license, appoint and endorse upon its ' license times of starting within the city, and i there was no machinery for the subsequent ! endorsement of such times by the City Conn- : cii. Consequently, as la. as licenses issued i by outside boroughs were concerned, this en- i dorsement was formal, and not essential. But to allow such an objection by tho Council I to prevail would be to annex to a regulation I prescribing a mere form the effect of virtu- 1 ally superseding the statute. The result j would seem to be that while the City Council can prescribe the times of starting of Parnell 'buses plying within the city, there is no necessity that such time* should be endorsed upon the licenses. A conviction would be recorded in all of the cases. A fine of 5s and costs 7s would be inflicted in one case of each class, and in the others a conviction recorded only. Mi. J. R. Reed, for tho defence, gave notice of his intention to appeal, and His Worship agreed to state a case for appeal.