HIGHWAYS' FUNDS

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 712, 11 July 1929, Page 18

HIGHWAYS' FUNDS

A.A.A. OPPOSES CURTAILMENT REMITS TO UNION PREPARED Remits to be forwarded by the Auckland Automobile Association to the North Island Motor Union Conference, considered by the council last evening, •are: “That, in view of the rumour that the Government is likely to alienate portion of the proceeds of the petrol tax for expenditure on backblock roads, not under the jurisdiction of the Main Highways Board, or such as would not be classified by the Main Highways Board as main or secondary highways, the Prime Minister be asked to give an assurance to the union, as representative of the motorists, that such rumour is without foundation, and that no curtailment of the present funds received by the Main Highways Board be made.” “That the North Island Motor Union requests the Minister of Transport to have the motor regulations amended as early as possible, also the Lights on Vehicles Act, making tail-lights on cycles compulsory, and that the Minister be requested to suspend instructions to county councils to erect signs under the regulations, and that the union confer with the South Island Union with a view to reaching an agreement.” Asserting that the statistics, quoted by the New Zealand Alliance, concerning the number of motor accidents attributable to drunken drivers, was misleading, the legal committee of the Auckland Automobile Association advised there was no evidence that a large proportion of the mishaps mentioned were caused by the consumption of liquor. The council, however, on the committee’s recommendation, agreed with with the alliance in favouring the enforcement of the legislation in force for dealing with the accident cases caused by drink. Complaints of undue delay in prosecuting motorists for breaches of regulations made by the association recently against the police were replied to by Commissioner Mcllveney. The informations were taken out immediately the police officers concluded inquiries, stated the Commissioner, but in some cases the inquiries were protracted owing to the difficulty in obtaining witnesses. This had occurred in the case of the association’s complaint. Agitation by Kohu Kohu for the stationing of a constable there has been turned down by the Commissioner of Police, according to a letter from the Kohu Kohu agent. The service officer, Mr. R. A. Champtaloup, stated drunken drivers in that district were a positive danger, but the inspector of police at Whangarei had promised to endeavour to suppress the menace.