PHYSICAL DISABILITY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21916, 27 September 1934, Page 12

PHYSICAL DISABILITY

HANDICAPPED MOTORISTS APPLICANTS FOR LICENCES FEW AUCKLAND REJECTIONS Instances of applicants for motordrivers' licences who fail to obtain them owing to physical disability are exceedingly rare in Auckland, according to Mr. G. R. Hogan, chief traffic officer of the Auckland City Council. The recent prosecution of a crippled woman driver in Christchurch for making a false declaration in order to secure the renewal of a licence has aroused considerable interest among motorists. The woman's licence was cancelled and she was prohibited from obtaining another for five years. It is beli«ved that the proposed amendments to the motor regulations will enable would-be motorists, who have been refused a driver's licence by a local authority, to appeal to the Magistrate's Court against the decision. At present it is customary in Auckland for the City Council to consider cases where applicants are not satisfied with the decision of the council's traffic department. However, appeals to the council are very rare.

Defective sight and hearing are the principal handicaps which prevent some applicants obtaining licences. It is stated that persons who are normally hard of hearing when conversing in a room lose some of this disability when travelling in a motor-car.

In the application form for a licence, the motorist is required to be ahle to state solemnly that his heating, sight and heart are normal, that he is not subject to epilepsy, fits, dizziness or fainting bouts, that he does not suffer from rheumatism in the limbs so as to affect his driving capabilities and that, in the use of at least three out of four limbs, he has no disability such as to affect his capabilities in controlling the vehicle. However, provision is made for equipping a car driven by a motorist who has not the full use of his legs. The electrical direction signals which are now becoming standard equipment on many makae of cars are or considerable assistance to persons without the full use of both arms, and other special devices can be used to help overcome physical disability. There have been two instances in Auckland in recent years of men with two wooden legs obtaining licences to driye. With the simplification of control which is a prominent feature of modern motor-car design, it. is to be expected that the sraall percentage debarred from driving motor vehicles will be even further reduced.