ROAD ACCIDENTS

Evening Star, Issue 20049, 14 December 1928, Page 4

ROAD ACCIDENTS

LICENSING OF MOTOR DRIVERS Press Association—By Telegraph—Copyright. LONDON, December 12. In the House of Lords, Viscount Cecil moved the second reading of tho Road Vehicles Bill, tho object of which is to reduce the number of accidents. It provides that driving licenses shall be granted only after examination as to skill and physical fitness, and compels drivers to insure against third party .risks. Licenses will be suspended automatically in tlie event of a conviction for dangerous pr incompetent driving. Viscount Cecil described the present position as incredibly serious. Five thousand persons were killed and 250j--000 injured every year in road accidents. Road dangers were an outrage to humanity and a disgrace to civilisation. _ Lord Denman, m moving tho rejection of the Bill, agreed with the necessity ot stiffening the law, but said motoring bodies held that the Bill would increase the number of accidents. Lord Londonderry, on behalf of the Government, said that everyone agreed that a Motor Bill was necessary, but the regulations must be sympathetic and must not hinder a young and flourishing industry. A Royal Commission was considering Viscount Cecil’s points, and it was undesirable to legislate until it had reported.—Australian Press Association-United Service.