Chaotic Regulations

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 453, 7 September 1928, Page 8

Chaotic Regulations

ROAD USERS IN A QUANDARY

THE opinion of many motorists who have tried to unravel the intricacies of road-speed restrictions is that the position of traffic control in New Zealand has never been more chaotic than at present. After the motor regulations were issued in March la>t —they were then some years overdue —it soon became evident that they merely added to the general confusion.

Legal opinions vary as to whether the regulations over-ride local bylaws or vice-versa. The Minister concerned says one thing and the regulations another. The local bodies retain speed-limit signboards that were out ol date and needed repainting years ago, and the harassed motorist is not sure that, in avoiding one restriction, he is not infringing another. All this has been brought about through the failure of the compilers of the regulations to finish their job. They contended, that the regulations over-rode local by-laws, and that if a lower speed-limit were necessary the local body had first to pass a by-law

and prepare a plan of the area, then secure sanction from the Government before the by-law could operate. Unfortunately the regulations, as gazetted, provided for nothing of the sort. The local bodies were required to forward a copy of the by-law and plan, but there was no provision making Government sanction a prior necessity to the operation of the by-law. On the contrary, the regulations stipulated that It was no defence to a breach of the by-law to prove that a copy of it had not been sent to the Government.

In May last the A.A.A. asked the Minister concerned for a statement of the position, and the reply was as follows: “It is the opinion of the Department that at present all existing local body by-laws, relating to the maximum

speed of motor vehicles are ultra vires, and to impose local restrictions the local bodies will have to comply with the regulations. Up to the Present no copy of a proposed by-law has been sent to the department by any local body.” This interpretation of the regulations was very soon upset by the Courts, and a great deal now depends on a test case shortly to be heard in Auckland. The City Council has an anti-piUion-riding by-law, which has been upheld by Mr. McKean, S.M., in spite of the department having held that the regulations permit pillion riding any where. The Sports Motor-Cycle Club, backed by the A.A.A., is fighting the case in an endeavour to uphold the regulations. If the Supreme Court upholds the City Council by-law. the March regulations may as well not have been gazetted. In many respects, including that affecting speed limits, the regulations will not be worth the ink used to print them. Even if the decision goes in favour of the regulations, there is little doubt that they will have to be amended and made clear.

The North Island Motor Union is supposed to be pressing for the abolition of speed limitations, being in favour of a clause making driving to the common danger an offence. The A.A.A. supports this, but, as a second string, favours the regulations overriding the locgl by-laws. In some communities there has been difficulty in securing convictions under the "driving to the common danger” clause of the Motor Act, but in Auckland most prosecutions under section 28 of the 1924 Act —the offence being to drive in a manner which might be dangerous to the public—have been successful. Whangarei and Onehunga are among the towns which recently have applied for lower speed limits. The A.A.A. has been advised of these applications, and after investigation may decide to oppose them. Hamilton has erected new speed-limit warning boards. The boards are in conformity with the March regulations, but the action in imposing the speed limit is open to question. Among other examples, Cambridge has a weather-worn board at its boundary announcing a 15-miles-an-hour limit, the board being surmounted with a blatant “Welcome to Cambridge.” The board is not in conformity with the regulations, and it is considered doubtful whether the Government will sanction a 15-mile limit on the wide roads that approach the town. These are examples of conflicting regulations and signboards that leave the motorist in a quandary. The practically unanimous opinion of road users is that the only solution is a redrafting of the motor regulations, and a strict supervision of those local bodies who will put up any bluff that suits their purpose.