No. 98/1932:

ROADS VEHICLES (SEATING CAPACITY) REGULATIONS, 1932.

ROADS VEHICLES (SEATING CAPACITY) REGULATIONS, 1932.

DEPARTMENT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC HEALTH.

ROADS ACT, 1920.

WHEREAS by Section 12 of the Roads Act, 1920 (as adapted by the Adaptation of Enactments Act, 1922 ), the Minister for Local Government and Public Health (in this Order referred to as " the Minister ") is empowered to make regulations for the purpose of carrying the said Roads Act, 1920, into effect :

AND WHEREAS by paragraph (a) of sub-section (4) of Section 30 of the Finance Act, 1932 , it is provided that the purposes for which regulations may be made under the said Section 12 of the Roads Act, 1920, shall extend to and include the purpose of prescribing the method of calculating for the purposes of the said Section 30 and of the Fourth Schedule to the said Finance Act, 1932 , the seating capacity of all or any of the classes of mechanically propelled vehicles mentioned in the said Fourth Schedule :

AND WHEREAS by reason of the variation by the said Section 30 and the said Fourth Schedule to the said Finance Act, 1932 , of the excise duties chargeable on the mechanically propelled vehicles specified therein it has become necessary for the purpose of carrying into effect the said Roads Act, 1920, and in particular for the purposes specified in paragraph (a) of the said sub-section (4) of the said Section 30 of the said Finance Act, 1932 , to make the regulations hereinafter specified :

NOW THEREFORE the Minister for Local Government and Public Health, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by the said Section 12 of the said Roads Act, 1920, for the purpose of carrying into effect the said Roads Act, 1920, as amended by the said Finance Act, 1932 , hereby makes the following regulations, that is to say :—

1. These regulations may be referred to as the " Road Vehicles (Seating Capacity) Regulations, 1932."

2. In these regulations all expressions shall have the same meaning as in the Road Vehicles (Registration and Licensing) Regulations, 1921.

3. In these regulations the expression " floor area " when used in respect of any vehicle means the area of the floor of the vehicle (exclusive of the seat or space occupied by the driver) measured in square feet, or if such vehicle is constructed with two decks or floors, means the total area of both such decks or floors (exclusive of the seat or space occupied by the driver) measured in square feet.

4. Where the seating capacity of a vehicle calculated under these regulations consists of a whole number and a fraction the fraction shall be disregarded.

5. For the purposes of Section 30 and the Fourth Schedule to the Finance Act, 1932 , no vehicle shall be deemed to have seating capacity for a number of persons less than the figure obtained by dividing twice the floor area of such vehicle by nine.

6. Subject to the provisions of the foregoing article :

(1) The seating capacity of a vehicle in respect of any continuous seats with which the vehicle is fitted, shall be the number of persons who could be seated on such seats, allowing sixteen linear inches width for each such person.

(2) The seating capacity of a vehicle in respect of any separate seats with which the vehicle is fitted shall be the number of such separate seats. Provided that when two or more separate seats are divided by such means as to allow such seats to be used alternatively as one continuous seat the seating capacity in respect of such seats shall be determined as if for one continuous seat.

(3) For the purposes of Section 30 and the Fourth Schedule to the Finance Act, 1932 , a vehicle shall be deemed to have seating capacity for a number of persons equal to the total seating capacity of such vehicle in respect of all the seats with which the vehicle is fitted (except the seat or space occupied by the driver) determined in accordance with the foregoing provisions of this article.

Given under the Official Seal of the Minister for Local Government and Public Health this Twenty-sixth day of October, in the Year of Our Lord One Thousand Nine Hundred and Thirty-two.

(Signed) SÉAN T. Ó CEALLAIGH.

Minister for Local Government and Public Health.