H—4o

of darkness ; foot patrol, point duty, and supervision of parking in towns ; checking motor-vehicles for defective or wrongly adjusted headlights and mechanical defects; checking stocks and sales of petrol-resellers in connection with petrol-rationing; enforcement of transport licensing legislation and regulations concerning the use on roads of heavy motor-vehicles and prosecution of traffic offenders. Some nineteen patrol cars in the North Island have now been equipped with two-way radio. These instruments have been put to good use in many phases of traffic control. In addition, they have a psychological value as a deterrent to offending motorists. During the year a training course for Junior Inspectors and a refresher course for Senior and First-grade Inspectors were held. The training course covered aspects of Traffic Inspectors' duties not readily gained in the field and with a syllabus similar to previous courses held. The keenness of Inspectors to further their knowledge at these courses has been most pronounced. The refresher course covered more advanced work and included demonstrations and personal handling of tank-transporters and other articulated vehicles and trailers now coming more prominently into use on the highway ; technical lectures and demonstrations at the Dominion Physical Laboratory; lectures by experts on care and maintenance of cars ; and lectures on driver testing and fitness of drivers by a medical practitioner (medical aspect) and an optician (in relation to eyesight). F. TRAFFIC OFFENCES Traffic Inspectors of the Department reported 10,217 breaches of the traffic laws during the year ended 31st March, 1948. Nearly half of these offenders (4,914) were cautioned, but proceedings were taken in 5,303 instances. Convictions were entered in 5,171 cases, 50 charges were withdrawn, and the remaining 82 cases were dismissed. By far the majority of minor breaches are dealt with by the Traffic Inspector on the spot and are not reported by him. The following schedule shows comparative figures relating to the number of traffic offences over the last eight years: —

Table No. 13 in the Appendix shows the nature of the offences which resulted in convictions during each of the past four years. G. INSPECTION OF MOTOR-VEHICLES All motor-vehicles are inspected every six months, and in this respect are divided into three main groups. (1) Passenger-service vehicles. (2) Goods-service vehicles. (3) All other vehicles.

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Year ended 31st March, Offences reported. Prosecuted. Convicted. Charges dismissed. Charges withdrawn. Offenders warned. Percentage of Warnings. 1941 .. 8,463 6,032 5,758 108 166 2,431 29 1942 .. 3,740 2,615 2,475 52 88 1,125 30 1943 .. 3,961 2,463 2,363 38 62 1,498 38 1944 .. 5,288 3,491 3,338 74 79 1,797 34 1945 .. 7,341 4,803 4,598 76 129 2,538 35 1946 .. 10,650 6,467 6,288 69 110 4,183 39 1947 .. 10,123 5,456 5,303 80 73 4,667 46 1948 .. 10,217 5,303 5,171 82 50 4,914 48