SIR,—Reading Mr. Colin Haycraft's remarks on the antiquity of some
of the regulations governing the behaviour of taxi-drivers, I was remiruled of some curious regulations concerning the behaviour of bus passengers quoted in my local bus time-table from the Public Service Vehicles (Conduct of Drivers, Con- ductors and Passengers) Regulations, 1936. It seems that, among other things, a passenger may not
(a) enter or alight from the vehicle otherwise than by the doors or openings provided for the purpose, (b) trail from the vehicle any streamer, balloon, flag or other article in such a manner as to overhang the road, (c) throw any money to be scrambled for by any person on the road or footway.
As to (a), I have not myself been able to discover any way of entering a bus otherwise than through the aperture provided for the purpose. As to (b), there may some time or other have been a habit among ill- conditioned passengers of trailing balloons, etc., from buses, but so far the spectacle has eluded me. And as to (c), one would imagine that even in 1936, still less today, there were few passengers addicted to distributing largesse from a bus.
My bus company's regulations (which I presume are in common form) are anything but helpful when they say that in certain circumstances charges must be paid at double rates for `any goods, matters or things described in the Carriers Act, 1830, William IV Cap. 67 & 68,' and they are positively discourag- ing to intending passengers when they say that the company do not undertake that their buses 'will arrive
at the time specified in the time table or at all.'— Yours faithfully, R. C. TURNER
Quarry End, Marlow, Bucks