This will make interesting reading if you are a limousine operator. One of our readers handed this document to The Chauffeur Magazine which has been written by a traffic officer from Derbyshire Traffic Police. It has apparently been distributed to other police forces in the UK. We have not edited this document, so it delivers you the true facts…

An area of road transport law which causes confusion and, it seems, has slipped through the net, is the Limousine.  The presence of limousines on our roads is becoming more common in an increasingly affluent society.

It is the current fashion to import stretched limousines from North America for use on British roads. On the face of it these unusual vehicles are simply transporting people about in some, ahem, ‘style’.  However there is no distinction to be drawn between a large limousine carrying passengers and either a private hire vehicle or a minibus.

All three are carrying passengers for money.  As such they must comply with minimum standards, and be operated in a responsible way.

This guide will concentrate on the following areas:

Classification , Licensing, Driver Licensing, Construction and Use.  I hope that the information that follows is clear and concise and that it gives you the confidence to deal with one of these vehicles.

However stopping one on the way to the nightclub may prove less troublesome that on the way back! Remember the passengers in the back are probably innocent paying  customers and it would be good PR not to delay them too long, and in some situations you may need them as witnesses.

Classification & Licensing This comes down to seats. How many passenger seats does the vehicle have? The guidance given by the Vehicle Inspectorate is to count the number of people being carried.  Obviously this doesn’t help us when the vehicle is empty but for the driver.  In this case the appropriate questions should be asked of him or her.

As an absolute fall-back, the regulations about PSV fitness allow 400mm along the front edge of a seat for any passenger.  This is the ‘comfortable’ minimum amount of seat per passenger.  Be warned that these imported Limos have bench seats and it is not immediately obvious how many people they can carry.  They don’t have individual depressions in the seat structure for each backside as European vehicles do. They are commonly constructed to carry ten passengers in the USA.

EIGHT PASSENGER SEATS OR LESS: A vehicle used for the commercial carriage of passengers and their effects which seat eight people or less and is not a Hackney Carriage can only be a Private Hire Vehicle.  There are two exceptions to this requirement:

Vehicles used exclusively for weddings and/or funerals, Vehicles on a long term contract (advice varies from greater than 24 hours to greater than one week) for the exclusive use of one customer So you stop your limo.

It’s got seven people in the back who say they have hired the vehicle and driver to take them to wherever.  Ask this question in the presence and hearing of the driver and you won’t need to get a statement from any of the passengers.  If the driver is not the owner, then the owner needs interviewing and both will commit an offence of operating a private hire vehicle without a licence under Section 46 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1986.

The Local Government Act gives licensing authorities (district and metropolitan councils) the power to set standards for the taxi fleet in their area.  For example Derby insist on traditional black Autobodies or Metrocab Hackney Carriages or similar. Amber Valley stipulates that Hackney Carriages should have white bonnets and boots.  Some authorities try to create a really distinct fleet, such as Sunderland, all of whose Hackneys are white and none of whose private hires can be white.

The upshot of all this is that they can lay down minimum standards. Some authorities  stipulate that private hire vehicles cannot be more than 5 years old. One very common restriction applied by many local authorities is that private hire vehicles cannot be left hand drive.

And there’s the rub. All the imported stretched limousines made by Cadillac (GM) or Lincoln (Ford) are left hand drive. They just don’t make them in right hand drive. So these things can never be private hire vehicles unless the elected members of local licensing committees make specific provision for them.

I am aware that some authorities have licensed such vehicles.  None of the Derbyshire authorities have.  The view at Derby City Council is that “We don’t like the idea of alcohol being consumed in these vehicles”. So it is unlikely that any stretched limo operating with less than eight seats we will be a lawfully operated private hire vehicle. Good Questions to Ask:

Who owns the vehicle?
Is the vehicle subject to a private hire licence?
Where have you come from?Where are you going?
What is the purpose of your journey?
How long is the hire? How much is the hire?
How many passengers have you carried/are you carrying?
How many passengers could you carry?
What enquiries have you, the owner, made of your local authority?

MORE THAN EIGHT PASSENGER SEATS : Now we are in the realm of the bus. Some basics: Public Service Vehicle: a vehicle adapted to carry more than eight passengers and is used for carrying passengers for hire or reward.
Hire or Reward: Payment for any matters which involve the carrying of  passengers; payment made in consideration of other matters additional to any journey taken; payment which confers a right to be carried whether exercised or not. Nothing in bus work causes more confusion than hire or reward.

It has NOTHING to do with whether the driver is paid. Some examples: I rent a minibus and I organise a brewery trip. I round up fourteen traffic bobbies and carry them at £5 a head to Burton and back. I am not paid, the £5 only covers the petrol.  This is hire or reward.  I am committing offences by doing this.
Another example. A garage, based out of town, offers a service to its  customers to give them a lift into town in a minibus. No money is charged for this.  It is ‘all part of the service’.

This is hire and reward. Payment is made in respect of other matters – the service – and the lift is ancillary.  Because they won’t give the same ride to anyone walking in off the street the law regards this as a commercial bus service.
Certificate of Initial Fitness:

All PSV’s with more than eight seats are required to have, before use, a Certificate of Initial Fitness. This is issued by the Ministry of Inspection after manufacture.  We’ve seen above that all stretched limos are left hand drive and therefore can’t get a Private Hire Licence. Well the other side of this ‘Catch 22′ is that they can’t get a certificate of Initial Fitness either.

These things just aren’t manufactured to the same exacting standards that buses are. For example the COIF procedure governs things like internal fixtures and fittings and other items concerned with passenger safety. One of the major stumbling blocks is the presence and sizes of emergency doors. So it is unlikely that the limo will have a COIF. If it doesn’t have a COIF it can’t get a standard O licence.

Operators Licence:  Some limousines have got restricted O Licences and the vehicle’s identity disc should be displayed in the windscreen. The powers of production are quite different from what we’re used to. It must be made available for inspection to any constable, vehicle examiner or other authorised person at the Operating Centre or principle place of business within fourteen days. They don’t have to bring it in.

If you find a limo with a restricted licence, it can only carry eight passengers or less. If it is found with more that eight passengers on board it commits an offence of no O licence.

Who owns the vehicle?
What sort of driving licence do you have?
What is the purpose of your journey?
Where have you come from?Where are you going?
What is the arrangement for the hire?
How long is the hire?
How many passengers have you carried/are you carrying?
Does the vehicle have an Operators Licence?
Can you produce a certificate of Initial Fitness for the vehicle?
How many passengers would you be willing to carry?

Driving Licences: If the vehicle is committing Private Hire offence or is being used correctly under a restricted licence:  If it has eight passengers or less, then a normal category ‘B’ licence is required. Therefore it is unlikely that any offences are committed.  If the vehicle is committing PSV offences: This is best broken down into two sections.  Driver obtained Cat ‘B’ after 1/1/97: If you  took your car test after this date all you are automatically given as entitlements are Cat ‘B’ and Mopeds Cat ‘P’.  Cat ‘B’ only allows you to drive vehicles with less than eight passenger seats.

Therefore unless the drive has obtained a licence in Cat ‘D1′ (see later), then an offence of driving otherwise that in accordance with a licence will be made out.  Driver obtained Cat ‘B’ before 1/1/97: Old hands like most of us when we passed our test for cars were given entitlements to licence Category ‘D1′ allows us to drive vehicles with nine – sixteen passenger seats.

On the face of it no problem.  However we all have on our licences for this category ‘Information Code’ 101.  This is ‘Not for Hire and Reward’.  Therefore if you find your limousine with more than eight passengers and its driver obtained their licence before 1/1/97, then unless they have taken a test to drive buses or minibuses, they will also be committing an offence or driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence.

Construction and Use:  There are a few Minibus specific items in the Con & Use Regs which might prove useful when dealing with these vehicles. Regulation 42: Every minibus (more that eight passenger seats) shall carry a fire extinguisher which is clearly marked and readily available for use. Regulation 43: Every minibus shall be provided with a first aid kit containing: Ten foil packed antiseptic wipes, One disposable bandage not less than 7.5cm wide, Two triangular bandages, One packet of 24 adhesive dressings, Three large sterile dressings not less that 15cm by 20cm, Two eye pads, Twelve safety pins, One pair of blunt ended scissors.

Regulation 109: Motor vehicles. No TV’s in the view of the drive, other than navigation aids, reversing aids or information about the operating state of the vehicle.  Lighting Regulation. Regulation 24: Passenger vehicles other than buses, may remain at rest without lights, on a road which has a speed limit of 30mph or less. A bus is a passenger vehicle with more than eight passenger seats.

Conclusion: If you decide to have a look at one of these vehicles, the only thing you must do at the time is find out how many people are being carried.  If as a bonus you can ask one of the passengers in the presence and hearing of the driver what the arrangements for the hire are so much the better.  If you don’t do any more that that you’ll have enough to start follow up enquires.