PETROL SALES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26630, 28 November 1947, Page 6

PETROL SALES

EMERGENCY TRADING

ONUS FOR PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES

The definition of essential and nonessential, and the location of the tenuous borderline between service expected and service which can be given, are matters which are periVsxifig motorists and garage proprietors alike as applied to the supply of petrol under the current regulations. Sales.of petrol at the week-ends have been restricted by jaw as an emergency measure to aid in cutting down. consumption with the view to saving dollar currency. i Motorists who complain that thp restriction is unnecessarily irksome’ may have some justification for their complaint on the ground that the retailing of petrol has become a public service, and, as such, necessarily wider in its scope of availability than other forms of goods retailing. But. as the retailers point out, quite apart from the fact that the governing authority has seen fit to impose the restriction, there is really no reason why petrol sellers, in an era of shrinking working hours, should be put to the expense and inconvenience of providing the extra staff needed to cope with a minor amount of trade which is largely based on individual forgetfulness or laziness. Petrol is available throughout the working week, and the tanks of modern cars provide storage space sufficient to meet the needs of the majority of week-end motorists. For some obscure reason, many motorists prefer to drive with their tanks almost empty, adding only the gallon or two necessary to complete, their immediate running, instead of filling the tank and keeping it topped up as usage occurs. In addition, although the filling of cans and containers had to be discontinued some time ago when there was a rationing “ scare,” it is permissible for the private motorist to keep a small quantity of petrol stored at home and so make individual provision for emergency needs. It is on the carefree, day to day, user that the weight of the restriction falls and the only solution is for such motorists to amend their habits. Retailers providing emergency service have found, however, that such selfdiscipline is still not practised by a percentage of drivers. They forget, or simply do not bother, to fill their tanks during the normal sale hours, and then become indignant when their demands are turned down at tjie afterhour stations.

Previously, the onus for proving that after-hour petrol was required for emergency use lay with the motorist, but the present regulations provide for equally stringent penalties on v the retailer who sells emergency petrol without sufficient cause being given. For that reason, it is only natural that the retailers should cover themselves by keeping to the letter of the law. Argument and abuse, levelled against the pump attendant who refuses emergency service, as has been the case in many instances, is foolish in that the attendant is not responsible for the law.

In order to remove the invidious burden of decision in such sales, offl* cers of the Transport Department have co-operated with the emergency suppliers by remaining on hand to adjudicate on requests for petrol. Claims on the grounds of dangerous illness must be substantiated by a doctor’s certificate, for- it is an unfortunate fact that deserving cases would otherwise be liable to be penalised by" the actions of less scrupulous moto*ists who would not be above perjury to obtain their wishes. For any genuine emergency case—urgent illness, essential useage, or distance travelling—the regulations provide for the sale of petrol. There may be instances of minor hardship among borderline requests which must be denied, but the presence of Transport Department officers at the Dumps suggests that some degree of discretion may enter into such sales. In any event, with motorists liable for a maximum fine of £SO and retailers liable to lose their licenes for breaches of the regulations, the retailers are actually protecting the motorists as well as themselves by refusing unwarranted applications. The retailers will be delighted, however. when all motorists have educated themselves to take simple individual precautions against running out of petrol after trading hours. For when this happy state eventuates, the retailers will not have to run the risk of antagonism through being forced into unwilling judgments on demands which, if the motorists realised it. could generally have been avoided with a little foresight.