DESIGN OF MOTOR-BUSES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19470, 28 October 1926, Page 8

DESIGN OF MOTOR-BUSES.

Among the administrative details which were referred to the responsible departments by the Motor-Omni-bus Traffic Act was the framing of regulations to govern "the design, construction and condition" of licensed buses. There was clearly an indication, no doubt so understood by Parliament, that a standard specification of essential features in design and construction would be fixed. No such provision has yet been made. The regulations issued last week simply require that a bus shall be kept in "safe and suitable condition ... to the satisfaction of an inspecting engineer." Eight inspectors have been appointed, and probably other appointments will be made. Neither for them nor for the builders or owners of buses is any standard fixed by which safety and suitability may be judged. To some extent the position is regulated in Auckland by the city by-laws, but they contain only a similarly vagueprescription of "a fit and proper condition." That this definition is inadequate has been proved on several occasions when buses, which have presumably complied \Hth the bylaw, have been damaged in accidents bo severely that their frailty has been fully revealed, a defect that has been sharply criticised by one of the city coroners. Passengers are entitled to more substantial protection than such vehicles afford, but improvement can hardly be expected until a higher standard is fixed by regulations. Even in the matter of internal arrangements there is need for revision of the design sanctioned by the city by-laws. They permit a minimum height from floor to roof of six feet, which may be sufficient for standing passengers below the average height, but is certainly not "convenient in all respects" for the large number of people who exceed that level. It would perhaps be unnecessary to require all buses to comply with the standards of strength in construction and comfort in design that have been used in the buses built for the tramways department, but there is certainly need for an exact regulation of structural stability and internal arrangement, which all buses built after a certain date should be required to satisfy.