WARRANTS OF CAR FITNESS

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 86, 28 April 1937, Page 6

WARRANTS OF CAR FITNESS

\ Use of Stickers Not Given Proper Consideration A "C0L0SSAL" TASK The view that the regulations regarding the mechanical examination of motor vehicles had not been given thorough consideration, and that if the instructions of the Transport Departinent are strictly enforced, the borough traffic department will have to be incr'eased to cope -with the extra inspection work, was expressed by the Town Clerk, Mr Noel C. Harding, in a report presented to the Hastings Borough Council this morning. After pointing out that a letter had been received from the Commissioner of Transport forwarding a supply of stickers for use of traffic inspectors in connection with the warrants of fitness required to be obtained hy every car owner, Mr Harding states that the instructions are that the stickers are for the use of traffic inspectors only and should not be issued by garagies. . The inspectors are to thq satisfy themselves that the warrants are in order and are themselves to affix the stickers. If drivers object, the sticker is not to be handed oyer unless the registered number of the vehicle is written on in ink or indelible pencil. •"If the Commissioner' s instructions are carried out, there is no doubt it will impose a tremendous burden on the traffic inspector in Hastings,'' said Mr Harding. "It appears to me to be unreasonable tor tlie traffic inspector himself to affix every sticker. The only other course would be for car owners to be publicJy notitied that they must produce their warrants of fitness to the traffic inspector' s office, and the stickers could then be issued by the clerk; but the registered number of the vehicle would have to be written on each sticker.'5 The idea behind the commissioner's instructions regarding *tho entering of the registered number on the stickers, he added, was evidently to prevent any person either handing a sticker to the owner of a car who had not obtained a warrant of fitness, for it could be used on a second car by a person who owned two cars- The Government appeared to have overfooked this fact, however, that car owners are required to procure & wtfrra'nt of fitness by March 31 and the stickers would theret'ore be issued duringi April and early May, but the registered numbers of the cars wouJd he cfiauged in May. Consequently, the entering of the registered number would be of no use, as the identity of the car would be lost when the new number platee are secured.

A Colossal job- I ^"The stickers also provide that the date of the last inspection shall be written on tlie back, and a "further inspection is to be made in six months' time," said Mr Harding. "As time goes on these dates will vary, and it wifl soon be necessary for the- traffic inspector to stop every car to find out the date of the last inspection. This will be a colossal job, and will surely mean the employmeht of extra staff and an added burden on the council. It appears to me that the whole of these regulations have been ill considered because a little thought coc.ld easily overcome tlie above difficulties." In the first place, he pointed out, the simplest method would be for tlie stickers to be issued by the Post Office with the car owner's new number . plates at registration time each year. If every car were examined and certified to be in good m.echanical order oncc every year, at the time of securing, new number piates, plus the fact that traffic inspectors have the right at any time to test any vehicle which may appear defective in any way, this should be adequate protection to the public, he contended. After all, the majorit-v of accidents are caused through carelcssness and speeding, not through the I'act that the car has not a windscreeu wiper or that the brakes are not 100 per cent. efficient. Colour System Favoured. "If, however, the Government msists that six-monthly inspections shall be made," continued Mr Harding, "then a simple method couhl be deyised by means of 5 ihe changing of the colour of the stickers, and the fixing of two permanent dates each year for the issue of warrants of fitness — viz., May 31, which is the tithe for registration oi cars, and. November 30. Traffic inspectors could thcu see by the col-

our of the sticker whether or not the six-monthly inspections have been mad#. "xbe only persons who could not be covered would be those who may have acquired a motor-car for the first time during the six-monthly period. This could be overcome by a regjulation providing a minimum of, say, 'two months prior to the next date for renewing the warrant of fitness, so that a person acquiring a new car two months prior to the next renewal period would not require to have a further inspection of his car made, and would be entitled to receive the newcolour sticker without inspection. "The foregoing would ' make the work of the traffic inspector very light, as the colours of the stickers on each car would indicate to him whether or hot the six-monthly inspection had been carried out,'» he said. "It is' obvious to anyone that, even with a modern car, a warrant of fitness may be issued to-day and something may happen to-morrow to the brakeB or some: part of the car which would render it impossible for the owner to secure a' further warrant of fitness until repairs had been made. In many cases careless owners may drive cars for months which are not up to the standard, even though a warrant of fitness has been issued some months previously."