Sir HOWELL DAVIESasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if his attention has been called to the fact that the National Cyclists' Union has failed to trace the owner of a car, No. AE975, which, on 7th August, collided with a cyclist on Bristol Bridge; if he is aware that the person in whose name car No. AE975 is registered has not owned the car for a considerable period; if the police authorities have made any serious attempt to trace the present owner of the car in question; and, in view of the fact there are probably other cars being used with numbers useless as means of identification, whether he will take steps to make the penalty for such breaches of the law more stringent?
§ The SECRETARY of STATE for the HOME DEPARTMENT (Mr. Gladstone)The letters AE are the index mark assigned to Bristol. I have communicated with the Town Council, and find that owing to a series of errors on the part of owners of two cars in not notifying change of ownership the council's register was at fault. The police have found the present owner of a car marked AE975, and have informed the National Cyclists' Union. The penalty for not notifying change of ownership is £10, and I will consult the President of the Local Government Board as to whether it is possible to take any further steps to secure that a local authority's register contains accurate information of the ownership of all cars registered with them.