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DROVISIONS covering tractor
• I drivers, the towing of articulated vehicles and the licensing of vehicles to carry harvest workers are contained in the Emergency Laws (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill, which was read a second lime in the House of Commons, last Friday.
Sir David Maxwell Fyfe, Home Secretary, who introduced it, said that the Government would, in committee, add a clause to provide for the continued suspension of the heavy goods vehicle driving licence system until a day which was to be appointed by the Minister of Transport.
It might be some time before it was possible or desirable to introduce the heavy goods vehicle licensing scheme, said Sir David. When the time came there would be many people driving heavy vehicles who did not hold special licences, and they must be provided for during any transitional period. The clause to be introduced by the Govern
ment would enable the Minister to restore the scheme without dislocating services.
As at present drafted, the Bill makes permanent the Defence Regulation under which people between 17 and 21 years of age may drive an agricultural tractor on the highway instead of being restricted to the farm itself. This concession has been renewed each year since April, 1943.
The Bill also overcomes the anomaly under which an articulated outfit, which is technically a towing vehicle and a trailer, cannot legally be towed if it breaks down. The reason is that the law does not permit a vehicle to tow more than one trailer. • The concession under which harvest workers may be carried in lorries without the need for road service licences will become a permanent feature of the law.
Mr. Chuter Ede welcomed the Bill on behalf of the Opposition.