MR. HERBERT (Buckinghamshire, Wycombe)To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware that owners of traction engines habitually ignore the requirement of Section 29 of the Highways and Locomotives Amendment Act, 1878, that one person shall precede the locomotive at least twenty yards on foot to assist drivers of horses; and whether he will issue a circular to chief constables 710 of counties as to this prevision and take steps to secure that the law is enforced.
MR. HERBERTTo ask the Secretary of State, for the Home Department whether he is aware that proprietors of light traction engines appear to be under the impression that the sole condition enabling them to work as motors without the presence of a third man is that they shall be under six tons in weight, and that the police in many counties appear to share this impression; and whether he will call the attention of chief constables of counties to the further requirement of the Locomotives on Highways Act, 1896, that such traction engines can only work without a third man if they emit neither smoke nor vapour except as a temporary or accidental matter.
(Answered by Mr. Secretary Gladstone.) I will answer these Questions together. The central authority for the purposes of the Locomotives Act is the Local Government Board, and I will consult with my right hon. friend the President as to whether it is desirable to issue a circular to the police on the points mentioned by my hon. friend.