S.I. No. 357/1952:

ROAD VEHICLES (MISCELLANEOUS LICENSING PROVISIONS) REGULATIONS, 1952.

ROAD VEHICLES (MISCELLANEOUS LICENSING PROVISIONS) REGULATIONS, 1952.

The Minister for Local Government in exercise of the powers conferred on him by subsections (2) and (3) of Section 1 of the Finance (Excise Duties) (Vehicles) Act, 1952 (No. 24 of 1952), hereby makes the following regulations :--

1. These regulations may be cited as the Road Vehicles (Miscellaneous Licensing Provisions) Regulations, 1952.

2. In these regulations "the Act" means the Finance (Excise Duties) (Vehicles) Act, 1952 , (No. 24 of 1952).

PART I. PART YEAR LICENSING.

3. The periods of a year less than a year for which a licence may be taken out in respect of a vehicle (not being a tramcar or a vehicle on which a duty of five shillings is chargeable) shall be such as are hereinafter specified and the duties payable in respect of licences for such periods shall be at the rates hereinafter specified :--

(a) A licence may be taken out for any period less than a year expiring on the 31st day of December in any year and if the same is taken out on or after any of the dates mentioned in the first column of the Schedule hereto the duty payable on such licence shall be the proportion of the full annual rate of duty specified in relation to each of such dates respectively in the second column of the said Schedule.

(b) A licence may be taken out for any quarter on payment of three-tenths of the full annual duty.

(c) A licence (not being a licence in respect of a vehicle chargeable with duty under paragraph 1 of Part I of the Second Schedule to the Act) may be taken out for any period less than a quarter expiring on the last day of any quarter, and the duty payable on the licence shall if the licence is taken out on or after the first day of the second month of the quarter be two-thirds of the rate of duty for the full quarter and shall if the licence is taken out on or after the first day of the third month of the quarter be one-third of the rate of duty for the full quarter.

PART II. CALCULATION OF CYLINDER CAPACITY AND OF HORSEPOWER.

4. For the purposes of any rate of duty specified in the Schedule to the Act, the cylinder capacity of the engine of any vehicle deriving its motive power wholly from an internal combustion engine shall be--

(a) in the case of a single cylinder engine, the cylinder capacity attributable to the cylinder of the engine ;

(b) in the case of an engine having two or more cylinders, the sum of the cylinder capacities attributable to the separate cylinders.

5. The cylinder capacity attributable to any cylinder of an internal combustion engine shall be--

(a) in the case of a cylinder having a single piston, the product expressed in cubic centimetres of the square of the internal diameter of such cylinder measured in centimetres and the distance through which the piston associated with that cylinder moves during one-half of a revolution of the engine measured in centimetres multiplied by 0·7854 ;

(b) in the case of a cylinder having more than one piston, the sum of the products expressed in cubic centimetres of the square of the internal diameter of each part of the cylinder in which a piston moves measured in centimetres and the distance through which the piston associated with that diameter moves during one-half of a revolution of the engine measured in centimetres multiplied by 0·7854.

6. For the purposes of any rate of duty specified in the Schedule to the Act, the horsepower of any vehicle deriving its motive power wholly from an internal combustion engine shall be taken to be the cylinder capacity of the engine of the vehicle calculated in accordance with the provisions of these Regulations divided by 125.

7. For the purposes of any rate of duty specified in the Schedule to the Act, the horsepower of any vehicle deriving its power wholly from a steam engine shall be taken to be proportional to the effective heating surface of the boiler supplying steam to such engine, at the rate of one horsepower for every three square feet in such effective heating surface, and the effective heating surface shall be taken to be--

(a) in the case of a boiler having horizontal or approximately horizontal tubes, the whole of that surface of the tubes which is exposed to the flame or hot gases ;

(b) in the case of a boiler having vertical or approximately vertical tubes, half of that surface of the tubes which is exposed to the flame or hot gases.

8. In measuring cylinders and boilers, and in calculating cylinder capacity and horsepower, fractions of centimetres and feet shall be taken into account, but in the final calculation of horsepower a resultant fraction of less than 0·1 of a unit of horsepower shall be disregarded.

PART III. CALCULATION OF SEATING CAPACITY.

9. For the purposes of any rate of duty specified in the Schedule to the Act, any vehicle shall, subject to the provisions of this Part of these Regulations, 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 as follows :--

(a) 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 inches width for each such person ;

(b) the seating capacity of a vehicle in respect of any separate seats with which the vehicle is provided shall be the number of such separate seats ;

(c) where two or more separate seats are divided by such means as to allow such seats to be used as a continuous seat the seating capacity in respect of such seats shall be determined as if they were one continuous seat.

10.--(1) 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.

(2) In this regulation "floor area" means--

(a) in the case of a vehicle constructed with two decks or floors, the total area of both such decks or floors (exclusive of the seat or space occupied by the driver) measured in square feet, and

(b) in any other case, the area of the floor of the vehicle (exclusive of the seat or space occupied by the driver) measured in square feet.

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

SCHEDULE.

GIVEN under the Official Seal of the Minister for Local Government this fifteenth day of December, One Thousand Nine Hundred and Fifty-two.

PATRICK SMITH,

Minister for Local Government.