DRIVERS' LICENCES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23748, 30 August 1940, Page 10

DRIVERS' LICENCES

RUSH FOR RENEWALS TEST BEING AVOIDED So great was the rush at the office of the city traffic department yesterday of motorists anxious to renew their driving licences before the period of grace allowed under the new regulations expires that queues had to be formed to deal with the applicants. Altogether 250 licences were renewed during the day, and as the period of grace expires to-morrow it was decided that the office would be opened between the hours of 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. on that day. Considerable doubt was expressed yesterday whether the new regulations would fully deal with the problem for which they were designed. It was stated recently by the Minister of Transport, the Hon. R. Semple, that a motorist who had not renewed his licence within three months of its date of expiry would be required to undergo another driving test. This regulation had been introduced to protect road users from din vers who had become incompetent through lack of practice. The belief was. expressed yesterday that many of those who had not so far renewed their driving licences were those who had not registered their cars, partly because of the petrol restrictions a*nd partly because they were waiting for the summer weather before going on the road. It was pointed out that such people would be penalised if they did not renew their licences by the end of this month. On the other hand, there were known cases of people who had not driven a car for years, but renewed their driving licences each vear to avoid the driving "test should they, decide at any time to again take up motoring. It was stated- yesterday that such cases were anything but rare, and an instance was given of one man who had not driven a car for eight years, but had regularly renewed his driving licence.