ROAD CROSSINGS AT SCHOOLS

Southland Times, Issue 24339, 21 January 1941, Page 6

ROAD CROSSINGS AT SCHOOLS

MOTORISTS DISCUSS QUESTION t MEETING OF AUTOMOBILE 1 ASSOCIATION 1 The general committee of the Automobile Association (Southland) at its ' meeting last night decided to urge that [ ordinary pedestrian crossings should be placed on roads outside schools for ' the safety of the children rather than ’ temporary crossings. The secretary of the South Island Motor Union wrote stating that there was a disagreement between the North ! Island Union and his union on the : question of whether temporary crossings at schools were desirable and practicable. The North Island Motor Union approved of such crossings, but his union was opposed to their use. He accordingly sought an expression . of opinion on the matter. The chairman (Mr M. M. Macdonald) said that the South Island Motor Union was opposed to such crossings because it was proposed that they should be only temporary, for use at certain hours of the day, and this was not considered practicable. Mr D. J. Wesney said he did not think the problem was very great in Invercargill, but it might be in Auckland, and this was probably why the Auckland Association was in favour of such crossings. Personally he thought the ordinary school sign should be sufficient. Mr D. A. Dunn said he did not see why an ordinary pedestrian crossing should not be placed at. schools, because, if they were not being used they did not delay the motorist. RIGHT-HAND RULE On the subject of major roa-s and the right-hand rule, the secretary of the South Island Motor Union wrote: — “Since the annual meeting I have been advised by the Automobile Association (Nelson) that it is definitely opposed to traffic on major roads having preference over other traffic in built-up areas, where tire 30 miles an houx- speed limit is in operation. In its opinion the right-hand rule should still apply in these areas, even if major roads are legally declared as such. My executive . after considering this matter expressed j agreement with the opinion of Nelson.” | The chairman said that one objection j to the proposed major road rule was that major roads had not yet been declared legal. Once they were so declared he thought much of the opposition to the major road rule would disappear. It was decided to notify the South Island Motor Union that the Southland Association was of the opinion that the right-hand rule should continue to operate in areas where the 30 miles an j hour limit applied, and that major | roads should be declared outside these j areas. PETROL RATIONING Writing of petrol rationing the secre- : tary of the S.I.M.U. stated:—“At the ; moment there does not appear to be ; any possibility of securing any ease- j ment in the petrol restrictions. As I see it the member of the Government who | has the final say on the question of ■ petrol importations is the Minister of

Finance, and he is obdurate, and cannot be moved from his decisions about restrictions. I think you will agree that with the presence of raiders in the Pacific the necessity of conserving supplies has become more accentuated. I noticed in the cable messages recently that on account of the loss of tankers the British Government had decided to take ovex- all available tankers. That, I should say, would materially weaken our chances of receiving more petrol as one of our main arguments was that there were idle tankers and plentj’ of petrol available at the Netherlands East Indies.” The chairman said that one argument against the present petrol ration was that little inducement was offered to the companies to bring petrol to New Zealand. It had been argued that if the consumption of petrol in the Dominion were greatex - there would be more inducement to the companies to build up reserve stocks. This point of view had been put before the Government and he thought they could leave the matter at that in the meantime.

The following letter was received from a member: “I wish to complain about the new regulations concerning the sale of petrol. On show day in Invercargill I had my coupons with me, but could not procure any petrol after 6 o’clock. As I am from the country, 35 miles from Gore on the Waimea Plains, I was in a fix to get home. It was only due to the goodwill of the AA patrol officer who supplied me with petrol at a late hour that I was able to get home. I wish to draw your attention to this matter as I was not the only one who was had.” It was decided to bring the letter to the notice of the secretary of the Resellers’ Association. RETAIL SELLING HOURS The secretary of the Automobile Association (Wellington) writing with reference to the proposed orders governing the retail hours of petrol stations in Clinton, Gore. Mataura and Wyndham, said that the hours proposed for Gore, Mataura and Wyndham were:—Monday to Thursday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Friday, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Saturday, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., with one petrol station in Gore open on Sunday from 10 a.m. to noon and from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. The same Sunday hours were proposed for Mataura. For Clinton the proposed hours were: Monday to Thursday, 8 a.m. to 5.30 p.m.; Friday,. 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Saturday, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., with no Sunday hours. The chairman said he had replied approving of the hours except for a suggestion that provision should be made for the sale of petrol in Gore on Saturday afternoons because of that town’s importance as a road junction. The chairman’s action was approved. ORETI BEACH ROAD “I do not think the blocks will be as dangerous as we at first feared,” said the chairman in reporting on a deputation that had waited on the engineer of the Southland County Council about a | scheme to place blocks at intervals of half a chain along the road to Oreti Beach. Mr Macdonald said that the I purpose of the blocks was to stop motor- I ists from encroaching on the cycle track. The blocks would stand about four inches above the surface of the road. The engineer had admitted that a motorist would get a bump if he struck one of the blocks, but it was essential to keep cars off the cycle track because of the danger of head-on collisions. The engineer thought that this was the first time these blocks had been tried in New Zealand, but they had been used in America.

On the subject of the sealing of Riverton road the secretary (Mr F. W. G. Miller) said he had communicated with the district Public Works engineer, who stated that all the money allotted for the road had been spent and that no more would be available before the next financial year at least. The secretary added that he had written to the chairman of the Main Highways Board on the subject. A hundred and one new members were elected.