CAR HEADLIGHTS

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLIX, Issue 21994, 20 June 1941, Page 4

CAR HEADLIGHTS

Blackout Restrictions On Motorists Motion Of Protest Defeated Automobile Association Discussion “They can put anything across the country at the present time and the people take it lying down. I say that the time has come when we shouldn’t allow them to do it,” declared Mr S. G. McClelland at a meeting of the Automobile Association (S.C.) last night during an animated discussion on a motion protesting against the enforcement of the reduced lighting regulations for motor vehicles before an emergency actually arose. Moved by Mr McClelland, the motion which was defeated by an odd vote, was as follows: "Although we agree to the necessity for preparing regulations for an emergency, we strongly protest at the enforcing of these regulations at the present time. In the interests of public safety these regulations should not be enforced until the emergency arises, and we contend-that this time has not yet arrived.” The discussion commenced during a meeting of the roads committee, when the chairman reported on a letter he had written to the S.I.M.U. and submitted a confidential reply, and was later resumed in open meeting. "Can you tell us wtjat conferences, if any, the Commissioner of Transport had with the S.IM.U. before the regulations were put through?” asked Mr G. J. Walker: The phairman: As far as I know there was none. Mr Walker: Has the S.IM.U. considered the regulations since they were gazetted, and have they made any objection? The chairman said he understood that in the view of the S.IM.U. the regulations should not be brought into operation before an emergency arose. He had written to the Union claiming that to put such regulations into force seemed premature and more dangerous than warranted. He presumed that the discussion was on the lines of his letter, but they would not know until the minutes came to hand. Mr Walker suggested that if the delegates of the S.IM.U. had attended the meeting in Wellington he would have received information which, if not confidential, would appear in the minutes of the S.IM.U. The chairman said that the S.IM.U. had met after the regulations were drawn up and in their opinion the enforcement was not timely. Mr Walker: You are relying on a very brief newspaper report. I don’t think we should have any discussion on the regulations until we get the minutes, as any decision will have to go through the S.IM.U. Mr M. B. Richards: That means we are being guided by the SJ.M.U. and are not in a position to express an opinion until they express theirs. Mr Walker: If they have any more information, we should have it. The chairman: “The only information we have is the regulations as they have been published and that is all the information their members have. I think that the introduction of the regulations is premature and that the Commissioner should have submitted them to the Associations first to see if they could make any suggestions of criticism before they were put into operation.” He added that in the clauses relating to the parking light areas there appeared some contradiction in terms compared with the Traffic Regulations. That was in the definition of road and roadway. Highly Dangerous When driving with one light dipped a motorist could see reasonably well, said Mr D. J. Mcßeath, but driving on parking lights as required in certain streets was highly dangerous. The chairman said that in his experience it was impossible to drive on parking lights except at a crawl. Motorists were going to have great difficulty in picking up pedestrians and unless extreme care was exercised accidents were bound to occur. Mr M. B. Richards: My objection is that the whole thing has been drawn up against the motorists. They have got to go to the expense of having their lights adjusted and have to rim the risks of accidents, but as far as the pedestrians are concerned they are not inconvenienced at all. I think the regulations are premature and they are not correctly worded. There should be more strict supervision of the behaviour of pedestrians in the way they walk and in what they wear. They should wear light apparel at night instead of dark.

Mr W. J. Foote claimed that pedestrians were put to considerable inconvenience. In parts it was impossible to walk over a kerblng without the use of a torch. If any lighting restrictions were required, those on the motorists were just as essential. It was no use, he said, putting the regulations into effect if they were not wholly enforced.-

Lights for Cyclists Mr Mcßeath said it was utterly impossible to equip cycles with rear lights. There were not sufficient In the whole of New Zealand even to equip cycles in Timaru. The chairman: It simply means that cyclists and motorists must keep off the roads at night. Mr F. Chittock said that the onus was on the motorist if he ran over a pedestrian. He suggested that women should be required to wear white stockings. ’ Mr Richards said he objected to the regulations because he considered them premature and not correctly drawn up. But if the authorities in Wellington said they were to be enforced by a certain date, they must think them necessary. Mr Mcßeath: I contend that, if they are not necessary in Australia, they are not necessary here. Mr McClelland: They are not necessary in Suva, let alone here. Mr Walker: We are not in a position to judge. We can’t sit back in a place like Timaru and say whether they are justified or not. Mr McClelland: It is not going to be decided by us, but I think they are premature and I would like the motion to go forward. The chairman: The motion is put in stronger terms what I wrote to the S.I.M.U. Mr Walker said that the motion condemned bringing the regulations into force at the present time. It did not condemn the contradictory terms in the clauses. In his opinion they did not have the information to judge the expediency of enforcement. Mr McClelland: If they have got the information the motion will have no effect whatever. If they have not got it .they might sit up and take notice. Mr Mcßeath: They can at least tell us if they have got the information. Effect On Morale Mr Walker: You can’t get all the information you want in wartime. Mr McClelland: This is one of the things likely to destroy the morale of the people. A Minister said recently that not five per cent, of the people in New Zealand know that there is a war on. That is not so. He dues not know what he is talking about. You have only to look at the casualty lists. They can put anything across the country at the present time and the people take it lying down. I say that the time has come when we shouldn’t allow them to do it. Mr Chittock claimed that the sacrifices motorists were asked to make were a mere bagatelle compared with those of the men overseas. Mr Foote said it appeared from the trend of the discussion that they were having something put across them. What object could the authorities h. ve in doing so? The chairman: “You can’t look for an ulterior motive in the motion.”

Continuing, he said that when put into operation the regulations were going to occasion a lot of danger on the roads. It was claimed that it was necessary to enforce them at the present time. Personally, he could not see it. Mr Walker: What information have we got about it? Are we in a better position to know than the naval and military authorities in Wellington? The chairman: We don’t know whether the naval and military authorities are responsible or the Minister of Transport. After further discussion the motion was put to the meeting and declared lost on the voices by four votes to three The meeting discussed briefly the ambiguity of the clauses relating to paiking light areas, the angle of the dipping of headlights and the driving at 20 miles an hour limit in parking light areas, and the chairman, Messrs Mcßeath and Walker were appointed to draw up a letter to forward to the S.I.M.U. The chairman who brought up the point of the angle of dipping said that apparently the fact that the different heights of Headlamps gave a different range of visibility had not been taken into account.