MOTOR SPEED LIMITS.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXV, Issue 18626, 23 July 1930, Page 13

MOTOR SPEED LIMITS.

BRITISH LEGISLATION SIX DIFFERENT RATES Consideration of the Road Traffic Bill by the Standing Committee of the House of Commons, to which it was referred, was concluded on May 29 with a further discussion of the proposed speed limits. At an early stage of the proceedings the committee adopted the proposal that private motors should not be subjected to any definite speed limit.

Lieut-Colonel Howard-Bury moved a series of amendments for the purpose of simplifying the system of speed limits and reducing their number. He said that the specified speeds in the bill were six in number—namely, unlimited for private motor-cars, and for ether classes of vehicles rates of 30 miles, 20miles, 16 miles, 3 miles, and 5 miles an hour, and he proposed that the respective speeds should be only three in number. As the Bill stood the six different speeds would throw very great difficulties on the police. How were they to differentiate between the different types of cars to which different speed limits were to be given? The amendment which he proposed was that the speed limit should be removed in the case of commercial goods and passenger vehicles of less than 2 h tons in weight unladen if fitted with pneumatic tyres and not drawing a trailer; that there should be a speed limit of 35 miles an hour for commercial service and passenger service vehicles over 25 tons if fitted with pneumatic tyres and not drawing trailers; and 20 miles an hour for vehicles drawing trailers and solid-tyre vehicles. Many light vans, the speed of which the Bill proposed to limit to 30 miles an hour, had chassis which, if fitted with private car bodies, would be outside the speed limits. Those light commercial vehicles had exactly the same controls as the private cars, and many private motor-cars for which no speed limits were fixed weighed up to 2i tons. Police Traps Baffled The effect of the different speeds proposed in the Bill would be to encourage the overtaking of traffic on the road, where as, if the limits were simplified as he proposed, there would be a steady flow of traffic going roughly at the same speed. It would be almost impossible for the police to set a trap when there were six different standards of speed. The ordinary practice was that the modern commercial van went at 35 miles an hour, and the proposal that the speed should be specified in the Bill would only e in accordance with the facts of the situation, while the penalties which were laid down for dangerous and careless driving would provide the necessary means of dealing with contraventions. Mr Herbert Morrison, Minister of Transport, said that if he could see his way to simplify the schedule relating to speed limits there would be enormous advantages to the users of the highways and particularly to the police, but he thought they would be driven to the conclusion, as he had done, that the schedule should be as it stood. The amendment would permit the driving of a lorry with a trailer, both with steel wheels, at 20 miles an hour, carrying heavy loads, with the result that terrific damage would be done to the highways. A five-ton lorry carrying a heavy load, the whole weighing possibly up to nine tons, would be able, under the amendment, if fitted with with pneumatic tyres, to run at 35 miles an hour. Apart from the difficulty which they would present \ to other traffic in narrow thorough- i fares, heavy vehicles of that kind would be very serious things if a crash occurred. Eliminating Hard Tyres Having stated that his policy was to do everything he could to get hardtyred and particularly steel-wheeled vehicles completely off the road, Mr Morrison dealt with the speed limits for passenger vehicles. Vehicles of 25 tons unladen could be constructed to carry anything up to 20 passengers; they would weigh, laden, four tons or over, and he would be very apprehensive of the results of allowing such vehicles to run without any speed limit at all. It was true that the Royal Commission on the Transport recommended that these vehicles could run ‘ up to 35 miles an hour, and he did * alter that to 30 miles without very j careful consideration. Lieutenant-Colonel Ashley said the real trouble was that the proposed schedule could not be amended by order, and the committee was therefore being called upon to give a decision, which might be in force for 20 years, as to speed limits. Mr Remer said that if th : schedule became law as it stood, the law would become considerably more of “an ass” than it was at present, because the law would be broken every day of the week. A limit of 30 miles an hour would be a “crawling speed” for the vehicles in question. After further discussion general agreement was expressed with a suggestion that a clause should be proposed on the report stage to empower the Minister, subject to the consent of Parliament, to vary the schedule of

speeds. The amendments were then withdrawn except the proposal that the speed limits for vehicles over 25 tons should be raised from 30 to 35 miles an hour, and this was negatived by 19 votes to 8. According to a telegram published recently, the House of Commons endorsed by a two to one majority, the proposal to abolish the speed limit for private motor-cars.