A view from the trade by B. M. ROLAND Opinion
THE NATIONAL PRIVATE HIRE ASSOCIATION 8 SILVER ST BURY BL9 0EX TEL: 0161 280 2800 FAX: 0161 280 7787 e-mail:
npha@btconnect.com
STRETCH LIMO DILEMMA MOVES FORWARD
Readers will be aware that over the years we have run numerous arti- cles about stretch limousines. The main complaint reaching the Association by email, phone and letter is: how do these things get away without being licensed? Well, the answer lay largely in the size of the vehicle, and whether it was possible to squeeze more than eight people into the vehicle. If you have two eyes in your head and have observed the size of these vehi- cles, you will understand that it is difficult if not impossible to consider the carriage of nine or more passengers as being impossible. Indeed, many have complained that they have seen ten, 12, 14 passengers scrambling out of these vehicles, and questioning how they should be licensed. Another angle that had to be addressed was the “Dry Hire” loophole. The Traffic Commissioners, together with the Department for Transport, have now set out new rules which in short, will ensure that the vast majority of these vehicles will be licensed as private hire. Many of you will be delighted to know that the ‘driverless vehicle’ or “Dry Hire” loophole is also being slammed shut. This was the loophole whereby a person wishing to hire one of these stretchers hired their limo from company A, who recommended or indeed insisted that you used/hired a driver from Company B - and by doing so they ran rings
around the private hire legislation which categorised a private hire vehi- cle as being “a vehicle which is provided for hire with the services of a driver for the purpose of carrying passengers.”
So in practice one company provided the vehicle so they were only doing the same as Hertz or any rent-a-car company, but of course the company B driver was also controlled under a different company by the same stretch set up. We do know that the police were particularly con- cerned as to “who” and “what” was insured by “which” and most importantly “what for”!! Ok Ok so it was a loophole and there are some folks who will always look for loopholes to assist their business- es……..but not any longer.
It would appear that this removal of the right to license the vehicles as PSV’s was not entirely acceptable to the National Limousine and Chauf- feur Association, and they sent a rant to PHTM for publication. You will see that article on the next page. But we are pleased to say that the Traf- fic Commissioners and the DfT have responded to the NLACA, and we have included that response as well.
Only one question now needs answering, and that is: How long will it take to get all of these vehicles licensed? Most importantly what are local authorities going to do to ensure that the travelling public and enforcement officers and the police and VOSA can actually tell whether the vehicle is in fact licensed? The stretchers won’t want plates on their big-and-shiny’s…. So…. how about councils getting their act together and deciding on one national single colour windscreen disc so we can all tell at a glance that “here is one that is licensed”!!!!!!. Do please continue to tell us if you spot one that hasn’t got a licence, either from the local council or the Traffic Commissioners. So until next time, sayonara.
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PHTM APRIL 2010
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