MOTORISTS’ TRIALS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19250, 14 August 1924, Page 8

MOTORISTS’ TRIALS.

OPERATIONS OF JOY RIDERS. IFeom Oub Own Correspondent.) SYDNEY, August 6. The motorists of Sydney are undergoing all sorts of little trials just at present, airst, there is tho movement to remove the petrol pumps from the footpaths—a course of acion which, if carried into effect, will very greatly inconvenience them. They are presenting a monster petition to tho Chief Secretary in order to try to block tho move. Then there is their vigorous protest against the introduction of a new tra.ffio regulation regarding side lights, which, it is consid red, instead of increasing the safety of traffic, will rather make it more dangerous. The new regulation, they assort, is not in conformity with the law in England or in tho big American cities. But the motoring community is perturbed above all by the wholesale borrowing of ears by joy riders during the week-ends, when the cars happen to be left in tho streets by their owners, sometimes only for n minute or two. Many of the cars are recovered, not a few in a damaged condition, by the police, but others are never seen again. The authorities are now using a gang of detectives simply to recover cars which have been stolen and left abandoned ; but tho police attitude is that tho motorists are not helping them as they might do. A question now under conBi.icration is whether the traffic regulations should be amended to make it an offence for a car owner to leave his car in the street unattended, unless it is provided with some mechanical contrivance to prevent the engine from being started.