PROBLEMS OF SAFETY.

COMING OF THE CHAR-ABANCS.

Motoring for the multitude is within easy range now that the 30-seater vehicle has come into its own upon the roads of England. It has been fairly tested on the points of safety, convenience, and comfort, and there are few who would venture to deny its right to bring the delights of the countryside within the reach of those who cannot afford, or who prefer not to run, cars of their own. There have undoubtedly been complaints against the char-à-bancs, but they have been confined on the whole to the two heads of in considerate driving and of misbehaviour on the part of their occupants. Those who use the roads frequently and are entitled to speak on behalf of the motoring community are agreed, however, that acts of hooliganism, on the part either of driver or passengers, are characteristic of a small but unpleasant minority, and, as a general rule, there is little resentment shown against the presence of the big motor-car on the road. On the other hand, they have been welcomed in quite unexpected quarters; certainly the civil authorities have no grievance against them where they are properly run and are used with consideration for others.

But the fascination of motoring has gripped the soul of the worker with such intensity that the demand for it has outgrown the supply of vehicles. One hundred and twenty charà-bancs duly licensed as fit to carry passengers are at his disposal already in the London district alone, and on these he may have his choice of all the country within motoring radius, embracing Southend and Newmarket to the east and north, and Goodwood, Worthing, and Brighton to the south.

THE PASSENGER LORRY.

In the attempt to satisfy the growing demand for the road, the old motor lorry has offered its services. Used for commercial purposes on five days of the week, it reappears on Saturday fitted up roughly with seating accommodation for from twenty to thirty persons, and usually it takes a merry party of that number to Brighton or to Southend. It is customary for the one party to hire the lorry and the driver’s services also, and to take with them their rations for the day, not forgetting a sufficiency of liquid refreshment enclosed in a massive earthenware jar. It may be something more than coincidence that the growing popularity of these convivial excursions should have been accompanied by a volume of complaints from the countryside through which the favourite routes lie. In addition to breaches of propriety alleged against the users of some of these converted lorries, a further objection has been raised in some quarters against them. That there is danger in the practice of carrying passengers in vehicles not built for that purpose has been urged. The disquiet is not allayed by the fact that these new passenger cars are under no supervision such as that which accompanies the acquirement of a ’bus or taxicab license. That is to say, there is no guarantee, either to pedestrians, other users of the road, or to the passengers themselves, that the converted lorry is a safe and proper means for the conveyance of crowds of passengers on a public road.

A motor char-à-bancs proper is, of course, under every sort of official supervision. In addition to the driver’s own license, it has to be provided with a public carriage license, and the granting of such a license exposes it to the most searching tests at the hands of Scotland Yard. The driver has to run the car through the streets under the eye of the police to prove his capability to drive the precise make of car for which he is to be licensed. The char-à-bancs is only licensed to run on a given series of routes, while for difficult or dangerous localities special running regulations are imposed. The motor lorry has no such safeguard. All that the owner need do is to pay at the nearest post-office the 15s exacted by the Inland Revenue, and he is at liberty to use his delivery van at the week-end as a “hackney carriage.” The only restriction on his career as a passenger carrier is that he must not ply for hire or advertise his running in such a way as to bring his lorry within the definition of a public vehicle.