Putnam patriot., 1919-12-05
'P.S. DRIVERS DON'T
 LIKE NEW LAWS
Find Regulations a Big Finan- cial Burden Which They
 Claim Is ouraking
On Top of State and FsdS.l Licenses Nov Comes Required'Liabiiity
 Insurance

Insurance
 The solons of Connecticut certain
 ly fired broadside of gloom into the
 ranks of the public service and jitney
 drivers when they passed the law that
 makes it compulsory to take out lia-
 bility insurance A minimum of s5,-
 900 and maximum of s10,000 is re-
 quired on each car. The minimum
 costs the owner of the vehicle s250.
 Besides that he has to pay license
 fee of s15 or more and a Federal li-
 cense of s10 and few little extras.
 One local driver told Patriot report
 CT that it cost him two dollars day
 in fees to run his car. T have to pay
 $2 before get out of bed to start the
 days business" was the way this driver put it. The men are not taking kindly to what the last session of the legislature did, as they think that they are overburdened with fees
 j. The state commissioner of motor vehicles has been asked to construe the new law as to what constitutes q l jitney or public servince car. His ruling is as follows:
 '.The department rules that iit- ney is any motor vehicle running upon a regular route and carrying passen- gers between termini or any intermed- fate portion of that route at a regular stipulated individual or per capita l fare.
 'The test to be applied in the case of any other motor vehicle than a jit- ney. in order to determine whether 1t 1 does or does not come within the de- l finition. is to whether the vehicle in question is either used for solicitation l and reception of passengers upon the public highway, or whether it IS used for carrying them to their destination for an individual fare. Either one of these two uses is in itself sufficient to require that the vehicle so used take out public service registration, and inspectors anu OLilet tllOltciiCiiS oiii- cers may require that any owner or operator doing business where he either solicits on the highway or car ries passengers for an individual fare must take out public service registra ton, and the operators of such vehi- eles must be licensed by this depart ment as public service motor vehicle operators.
 In putting such construction on the law it is readily seen that owners of cars who let them for hire at so much per person must take out H. cense and in addition liability insur- ance. The owner of a garage who takes passengers at so much per fare, it would seem. comes under this head. When it is considered that for each car so used the garage owner must pay license fee of $l5 or more be- sides S25O or more on each car for liability insurance, plus registration, Federal license, etc, 1t IS no wonder that the burden is felt, with cores
 
 nonding dissatisfaction with the law. But. as it has been construed by 1 local lawyers, the law does not affect one who lets his car, as car, for hire and not at so much per individ- ual. If a car owner IS asked how much he will take party of five peo- ple to Providence for and replies Eff | teen dollars" he does not need pub l lie service license, but if he replies "three dollars for each passenger" he becomes a member of the public ser vice class.
 There seems to be very little dis tinction with big difference and how far it may be carried and come with | in the law may have to be decided ju- dicially if it is carried to the extreme l of car owner letting" his car for 1 fifty cents for trip rather than charging fifty cents for an individual fare. While it seems to be play upon words when carried to excess, there does seem to be greater dis tinction when one lets a car for 8 day to a party, regardless of the number, and with no thought of an individual fare but with only in mind making the learnings of the car the desired amount
 for given time.
 With these fees, plus gas, oil, and wear and tear, it would seem that the jitney drivers overhead expense has
 been really made burden. However,
 the outcome will be the same as in all
 increases to the producer or seller
 the public will have to pay.
 DISTRICT AND SCHOOL NURSE