Arizona republican., 1922-01-21
He URGES UNIFORM
MOTOR VEHICLE LAW
IN ANNUAL REPORT

Necessity Of a uniform motor We
hicle law is emphasized in the annual
report of Ernest Hall, secretary of
state, which was filed with Governor
Campbell yesterday.
In recommending amendments to
the motor vehicle law, Secretary Hall
places stress on the fact that under
the present law the public is in no
way protected from inefficient or
careless driving.
"A chauffeur's license either should
be abolished or an examination, both
practical and technical, be provided
by law" cites the secretary in his
report "At present the license
means nothing except that the holder
has paid So for a badge. / believe
the provision adopted by. a great
many states of requiring an oper-
ator's license for the driver of every
car, with the proviso that the license
be revoked for incompetent driving
or other violation of the motor We
hicle law"
Mr.. Hall makes the charge that the
motor vehicle law is being violated
in every county of the state. To
overcome this he suggests that his
office be authorized to employ two
deputies.
"Taxes and license fees are being
evaded, and the lives and property
of citizens endangered by reckless
violation of speed and headlight laws,
the enforcement of which seems i'm
possible, or impracticable, by local
officials. The expense of these two
motor vehicle law enforcement e.
ficers could be more than betrayed
by turning into the state treasury
one half of all fines imposed upon
violators apprehended by such Of
ficers."
Another matter that should be con-
sfdered by the. legislature In the
opinion of Mr.. Hall has to do with the
limit to the weight and load of trucks
If the state wishes to preserve its
paved roads.
Under the present law there is no
fee provided for the transfer of motor
cycles and a charge of 25 cents
should be made in accordance with
the recommendations of Mr.. Hall.
More than one half of the total
revenue of his office from January ],
1921, to December 81, 1921, was from
the motor vehicle department. The
total receipts were $3.50, 9,571.4S while
the motor vehicle revenue was $780,
969.75. The revenue from the tax on
gas fixed by the fifth state legis-
lature was $S7,92S.35 while the mis-
cellaneous receipts amounted to
$5,67S.3S.
The total number Of motor vehicles
in use during 1921 in Arizona were
35,049 while year ago the number
was 34,619.
Only a few electric cars were I'm
operation this year according to the
records of Nthe secretary of state
there were but three. There were
81, ,066 gas cars; $3.50 trucks and der
liveries and 440 motorcycles. The
number of transfers of registration
were 1888 while 164 included the
number of chauffeurs' licenses that
were issued.
The contingent expenses Of the Of
flee for the year were $2,926.9O; sal
aries, $13535.06 and motor vehicle
expense $25,749.94 out of which the
secretary paid for the 1921-22 Ii
censes.
While considerable OF the report
was devoted to the motor vehicle
department all other business trans
actions of the office were covered in
detail while other recommendations
were also made, the outstanding one
having to do with brokers' licenses,
recommending that they be issued by
the corporation commission.