MULTITUDE OF BILLS

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19512, 10 June 1933, Page 12

MULTITUDE OF BILLS

LAW-MAKING IN AMERICA. ONE PER CENT. GET THROUGH. A review of the legislation affecting motor vehicles passed by eighteen State Legislatures in America which have ended their sessions shows that of thousands of Bills introduced only a small percentage were enacted into law. The measure adopted related to regulation of trucks and buses, fixing registration fees and motor vehicles sizes and weights, use of motor spirit revenue, financial responsibility, and other questions of motor vehicle operation.

It is estimated that altogether about 5000 Bills were placed before the State Legislatures this year. Of these, more than 2700 related to oil and motor spirit, but a recent count put the total of such measures finally enacted at only 21, or less than 1 per. cent. In the majority of cases the measures adopted have not been of a drastic character, and some have received the commendation of motoring organisations. According to Mr. Alfred Reeves, vice-president of the National Automobile Chamber of Commerce, measures designed to harass motor vehicle owners or to obstruct development of highway traffic met with little success in most of the Legislatures which have adjourned. Intensive efforts were made by railroad groups to secure the enactment of a number of measures which would have injured highway users, but none of these measures were passed by the New York State Legislature.

Among Bills adopted was the Buckley measure repealing the 65 per cent, surtax on trucks and buses voted at the end of the 1832 legislative session. Another enactment (going into effect July 1) reverses the rule of the road for pedestrians, making them keep to the left of the highway. This was approved by the New York State Automobile Association. In America cars are of the left-hand drive type, the rule of the road being the opposite of that in New Zealand. The emergency one-cent additional tax on motor spirit, which makes the State levy three cents per gallon, was continued for another year. Sidewalks along Highways Another measure before the New York State Governor provides for the laying of sidewalks along State, country, and town highways. This is favoured by the New York State Automobile Association as not only providing unemployment relief but as promoting safety. The sidewalks would be of gravel, shale, or cinders. Another Bill requires the use of safety plate glass in the doors, windows, and windshields of motor vehicles manufactured after January 1, 1935.

Among measures passed by Legislatures in other States, a general tendency is noted to reduce registration fees. The National Highway Users Conference reports decreases in licence charges for passenger cars in Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Arkansas, and Kansas. However, the registration fee for passenger automobiles was raised in Montana, and for trucks and buses for hire in Indiana.

Oregon increased the motor spirit tax from 4 to 5 cents per gallon, the only Bill calling for an increase of the fuel levy which became law so far this year. Arizona voted to continue a 5-cent rate. South Dakota was the only State to authorise diversion of motor spirit tax funds, in this case transferring 50 per cent, of the revenue to the rural credit bond and interest fund. Other States, including Indiana, North Dakota, and Washington, refused to authorise diversion of road funds. Five States extended regulation of trucks or buses, placing new restrictions on their weight and size. The length of combination vehicles was reduced from 85 feet to 65 feet in Idaho and limited to 45 feet in North Dakota, in Oregon to 50 feet and in South Dakota to 35 feet. In Idaho the axle load was reduced to 16,000 pounds, but the gross permissible load increased to 50,000 pounds; in New Mexica axle loads were reduced to 16,000 pounds (18,000 pounds with low pressure pneumatic tyres); in North Dakota the gross weight was limited to 14,000 pounds. After exhaustive research extended over 18 months the British National Institute of Industrial Pschology has devised a new method for detecting ac-cident-prone drivers and correcting their faults. While at the wheel of a stationary dummy motor-Car the steer-ing-wheel, accelerator, and brake of which control the projection of a realistic roadway, the driver appears to be travelling along a winding road and negotiating “hairpin” bends and other road difficulties. His reactions to these are carefully noted, his progress is recorded on a graph, and any drivng faults are revealed. A series of tests of experienced drivers is said to have shown that the results obtained from the graphs correspond closely to the actual driving experiences of those tested.