IRREGULAR ACTION

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 723, 24 July 1929, Page 11

IRREGULAR ACTION

RETURN OF TAXI-DRIVER’S LICENCE NOT IN REGULATIONS ‘■There is nothing I can find in the regulations to the Motor Vehicles Act to cover this action,” said Mr. G. W. Hutchison, secretary of the A.A.A., when his opinion was asked as to the action of the town clerk of Fapakura in requesting a taxi-driver to hand in his driver’s licence. The matter came before the Papakura Town Board on Monday evening, when the town clerk, Mr. A. 1.. Cooper, read to the board the section of the Motor Vehicles Regulation Act under which he had acted. In justifying his action, the clerk said that he received a letter from the traffic inspector of the Highways Board stating that the taxi-driver in question had had a collision at the corner of Beach Road and the Great South Road on June 2G, and that the taxi-driver was to blame. The inspector said the driver was 70 years of age, his eyesight was poor and he had lost the power of judging pace and distance. It was considered that his licence should be handed in. There was a division of opinion as to the town clerk’s action, which was finally endorsed by four votes to three. In the opinion of Mr. G. W. Hutchison, who was approached by a Sun man today, there is nothing in the regulations to cover the case. “Regulation 2, clauses 4 and 5, state in effect, that if a car does not comply with the motor regulations, a police officer, traffic inspector, or the chief executive officer may request the return of the number-plate and licence until such time as the regulations are complied with, but there is no reference at all to the driver. “In my opinion, in cases of personal disability, the proper course is to take action through the court for negligent driving. It would then be with the court to decide whether or not the driver of the car should retain his licence.” Holders of a previous licence are not requested to undergo a test by the traffic authorities unless complaints have been received of the physical or mental inability of the applicant to drive. Otherwise, the licences are automatically issued.