20.-(1.) In this Act the expression "motor car " has the same Interpretameaning as the expression "light locomotive" has in the principal tion, comAct, as amended by this Act, except that, for the purpose of the mencement, provisions of this Act with respect to the registration of motor cars, and short the expression" motor car" shall not include a vehicle drawn by a motor car.

The provisions of this Act and of the principal Act shall apply in the case of a roadway to which the public are granted access in the same manner as they apply in the case of a public highway.

(2.) This Act shall come into operation on the first day of January nineteen hundred and four.

(3.) This Act may be cited as the Motor Car Act, 1903; and the Locomotives on Highways Act, 1896, and this Act may be cited together as the Motor Car Acts, 1896 and 1903.

title.

21. This Act shall continue in force till the thirty-first day of Duration December nineteen hundred and six and no longer, unless of Act. Parliament shall otherwise determine.

MOTOR CAR REGULATIONS, 1903.

THE MOTOR CAR (REGISTRATION AND LICENSING) ORDER, 1903.
DATED NOVEMBER 19, 1903.

TO THE COUNTY COUNCILS of the several Administrative
Counties in England and Wales ;—

To the Councils of the several County Boroughs in England
and Wales;-

And to all others whom it may concern.

Whereas by section 6 of the Locomotives on Highways Act, 1896 (hereinafter referred to as "the Act of 1896"), it is enacted that

"(1.) The Local Government Board may make regulations with respect to the use of light locomotives on highways, and their construction, and the conditions under which they may be used.

“(2.). All regulations under this section shall have full effect notwithstanding anything in any other Act, whether general or local, or any bye-laws or regulations made thereunder."

And whereas by section 7 of the Act of 1896 it is enacted that— "A breach of any . . . regulation made under this Act, may, on summary conviction, be punished by a fine not exceeding ten pounds."

And whereas by section 2 of the Motor Car Act, 1903 (hereinafter referred to as "the Act of 1903 "), it is enacted that—

"(1.) Every motor car shall be registered with the council
of a county or county borough, and every such council shall
assign a separate number to every car registered with them.
(2.) A mark indicating the registered number of the car
and the council with which the car is registered shall be fixed

66

on the car or on a vehicle drawn by the car, or on both, in such manner as the council require in conformity with regulations of the Local Government Board made under this Act.

"(3.) A fee of twenty shillings shall be charged by the council of a county or county borough on the registration of a car, except in the case of motor cycles, for which the fee shall be five shillings.

....

.:

"(4.) If a car is used on a public highway without being registered, or if the mark to be fixed in accordance with this Act is not so fixed, the person driving the car shall be guilty of an offence under this Act, "Provided that— "(a) A person shall not be liable to a penalty under this section if he proves that he has had no reasonable opportunity of registering the car in accordance with this section, and that the car is being driven on a highway for the purpose of being so registered; and "(b) The council of any county or county borough in which the business premises of any manufacturer of, or dealer in, motor cars are situated, may, on payment of such annual fee, not exceeding three pounds, as the council require, assign to that manufacturer or dealer a general identification mark which may be used for any car on trial after completion, or on trial by an intending purchaser, and a person shall not be liable to a penalty under this section while so using the car if the mark so assigned is fixed upon the car in the manner required by the council in accordance with regulations of the Local Government Board made under this Act."

And whereas by section 3 of the Act of 1903 it is enacted that

(2.) The council of a county or county borough shall grant a licence to drive a motor car to any person applying for it who resides in that county or county borough on payment of a fee of five shillings, unless the applicant is disqualified under the provisions of this Act.

(3.) A licence shall remain in force for a period of twelve months from the date on which it is granted, but shall be renewable, and the same provisions shall apply with respect to the renewal of the licence as apply with respect to the grant of the licence.

66

66

(5.) Any person under the age of seventeen years shall be disqualified for obtaining a licence (except that a licence limited to driving motor cycles may be granted to a person over the age of fourteen years), and any person who already holds a licence shall be disqualified for obtaining another licence while the licence so held by him is in force." And whereas by section 7 of the Act of 1903 it is enacted that— "(1.) The Local Government Board may, under section six of the Locomotives on Highways Act, 1896,

regulations

make

"(a) providing generally for facilitating the identification

of motor cars, and in particular for determining, and regulating generally the size, shape, and character of the identifying marks to be fixed under this Act, and the mode in which they are to be fixed and to be rendered easily distinguishable whether by night or by day, and with respect to the registration of cars, and the entry of particulars, including particulars of the ownership of the car, in the register, and the giving of those particulars, and for making any particulars contained in the register available for use by the police, and for making the registration of a car void if the regulations as to registration are not complied with; and

"(b) with respect to the licences to be granted by the councils of counties or county boroughs under this Act, and in particular with respect to the register to be kept of those licences and the renewal of licences, and for providing special facilities for granting licences to persons not resident in the United Kingdom, and for communicating particulars thereof to adjoining and other county or county borough councils, and for making any particulars with respect to any persons whose licences are suspended or endorsed available for use by the police, and for preventing a person holding more than one licence.

(2.) The councils of counties and county boroughs shall comply with any regulations so made by the Local Government Board, and may if authorised by those regulations and in accordance therewith charge in respect of the entry of particulars of the ownership of a car on change of ownership such fee, not exceeding ten shillings, as may be prescribed by the regulations, and in respect of the issue of a new licence in the place of a licence lost or defaced such fee not exceeding one shilling as may be prescribed by the regulations." Now therefore, in pursuance of the powers given to us by the Act of 1896 and the Act of 1903, and by any other statutes in that behalf, we, the Local Government Board, do by this our Order make the following regulations, and direct that the same shall have effect for the purpose of bringing the Act of 1903 into operation and giving effect to that Act:

PART I.

Registration of Motor Cars.

Art. I. The council of every county and the council of every county borough shall establish and keep a register (hereinafter referred to as "the register of motor cars") for the registration of

motor cars.

The index mark distinguishing the council of the county or county borough with which a motor car is registered shall, as respects the council of each county or county borough, be the letter or letters shown opposite to the name of that council in Part I. of the first schedule to this Order.

The register of motor cars shall be in the form set out in the second schedule to this Order, or in a form to the like effect.

The council of any county or county borough may, if they think fit, keep the register of motor cars in two parts, one part relating to motor cars not being motor cycles, and the other part relating to motor cycles.

Art. II.-The owner of a motor car who desires to register it with the council of any county or county borough shall apply to the council, and shall furnish them with the particulars set out in the form in the third schedule to this Order. A fee of twenty shillings in the case of a motor car not being a motor cycle, or of five shillings in the case of a motor cycle, being the fee prescribed by the Act of 1903, shall be paid before the motor car can be registered.

Art. III.-The council, on receipt of any such application, and the particulars and fee above referred to, shall forthwith assign a separate number to the motor car, and register it by making the required entries in the register of motor cars. The council, on the registration of a motor car, shall forthwith furnish the owner of the motor car with a copy of the entries in the register relating to the motor car.

Art. IV. If the ownership of a motor car is changed, notice of the change shall be given either by the new or the old owner to the council with whom the motor car is registered, and an application shall also be made either to cancel the registration of the car or to continue the existing registration under the new ownership.

If an application is so made to cancel the registration of the motor car, and no application is made to continue the existing registration of the car, the registration of the car shall be cancelled accordingly, but if an application is made to continue the existing registration of the car, the new owner shall furnish the necessary particulars as to ownership, and on receipt of a fee of five shillings in the case of a motor car not being a motor cycle, or of one shilling in the case of a motor cycle (which fees the council are hereby authorised to charge), the council shall cause the necessary alterations to be made in the register of motor cars, and shall furnish the new owner with a copy of the altered entries in the register.

Any notice may be given or application or alteration made under this Article before the date of the actual change of ownership so as to take effect from that date.

If the provisions of this Article as to notice and application are not complied with, the registration of the motor car shall be void.

Art. V.-If any circumstance (other than a change of ownership dealt with in the preceding Article) occurs in relation to any motor car which affects the accuracy of any particulars entered as respects that car in the register of motor cars, the owner of the motor car shall forthwith inform the council with whom it has been registered, and on receipt of such information, the council shall forthwith cause the entries respecting that motor car in the register of motor cars to be amended accordingly, and shall furnish the owner with a copy of the entries as so amended. No fee shall be charged by the council in respect of any amendment of entries or transmission of a copy of entries under this Article.

Art. VI.-If the council are satisfied that a motor car which has been registered with them is destroyed, broken up, or permanently removed from the United Kingdom, or registered with another registering authority under the Act of 1903, or if the owner of a registered motor car by application in writing requests them to cancel the registration thereof (except where, in the case of a change of ownership, there is an application to continue the existing registration) they shall cause the entries in the register of motor cars with respect to the motor car to be cancelled, and may, if they think fit, assign the registered number of the motor car to any other motor car whether belonging to the same or any other owner.

Art. VII.-The mark to be carried by a registered motor car, in pursuance of section 2 of the Act of 1903 (in this Order referred to as the identification mark), shall consist of two plates which must conform as to lettering, numbering, and otherwise, with the provisions set out in the fourth schedule to this Order.

Designs, painted or otherwise, shown upon the motor car may, if it is desired, be used instead of plates, and any reference to plates in this Order shall be construed to include a reference to such designs, and any reference to the fixing of plates to include a reference to the painting or other delineation of the designs.

Art. VIII.—The plates forming the identification mark shall be fixed, one on the front of, and the other on the back of, the motor car, in an upright position, so that every letter or figure on the plate is upright and easily distinguishable, in the case of the plate placed on the front of the motor car, from in front of the car, and, in the case of the plate placed on the back of the motor car, from behind the car.

In the case of a motor tricycle or motor bicycle of a weight unladen not exceeding three hundredweights, the plate fixed on the front of the cycle may, if it is a plate having duplicate faces conforming with the fourth schedule to this Order, be fixed so that from whichever side the cycle is viewed the letters or figures on one or other face of the plate are easily distinguishable, though they may not be distinguishable from the front of the cycle.

Subject to the provisions of this Article, the plates forming the identification mark shall be fixed on the motor car in the position indicated in the particulars given on the application for the registration of the motor car, or subsequently furnished to the registering council, or if that council are not satisfied with the position so indicated, in such a position as they direct.

So long as the provisions of this Order are complied with, different identification plates may be used on a motor car by day and night or on different occasions.

Art. IX.-When another vehicle is attached to a motor car, either in front or behind, the plate required to be fixed on the front or on the back of the motor car, or a duplicate of such plate, shall be fixed on the front or on the back of the vehicle attached, as the case requires, in the same manner as the plate is required to be fixed upon the motor car.

Art. X.-A council with whom a motor car is registered may, if they think fit, supply to the owner of the car, if he so desires, the plates forming the identification mark on the car, and make a charge for them.