Taxi Driver Online

Our council have decided (so we are led to believe) that they will not licence or re-licence 8 seaters unless they have access to both doors via lift up seats (it is already against council policy to have backwards facing seats) so therefor in Merc Vito, Renualt, VW etc a seat in the centre row will have to be removed. I think this goes against construction & use regs for UK vehicles whereby passengers are given an option to exit the vehicle on the righthand side instead of the kerbside.

Anyone got any info on this from other area's?.

They are of course using the "safety" word but I do not know of any evidence to show that standard factory built 8 seaters are unsafe.

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you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.

It all boils down to the adjetive is it "reasonable" and the only way of answering that question is in the magistrates court.

Regards

JD

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So what about wavs no backward seating no wheelchairs

Where do councils dream up these idiotic rules
If they have already licenced 8 seaters they cannot remove them

Thanks JD & Skippy.

On reading the council minutes, it would appear they are trying to do away with "coverted" vehicles not a factory built vehicle, although access to doors is somehat ambiguos. It goes on to say that a SVA issued by VOSA would allow them to license any vehicle which may be of interest to the limo ops who may have had difficulty before hand.

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you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.

It does rather hack me off that so much thought is given to disabled people.

I thought the whole idea of being disabled is that it is, in itself, a 'disability'

It appears to be an 'Advantage' in many ways.

FFS, why do they have to ruin everybody elses life.....


[Awaits flaming....]

Why don't they allow rear facing seats?

Are rear facing seats in a Merc more dangerous than in a TX4?

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IDFIMH

Ive an seater, its perfectly legal here....Middle row is split 2 seats 1 seat..I can lift one single or all three seats in a One'r, sadly not the Double seat until the single seat is raised first....but what I couldnt do is remove one seat as all three need to be in place or they wont Lock into the floor runners.

If the councils tried to mess things about on factory fitted seats it would create far more danger than it would cure...where do these LA numpties dream up such daftness???

HC's have rear facing seats is there a particular reason why other vehicles can't have backward facing seats?

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

Rear facing seats are safer than forward facing, even the RAF has them all rear facing in all the troop planes

thats to stop the Poor Squaddies from realising where they are being sent..

At a meeting of the Licensing sub committee on 18th August 1999 (yes 1999 ) it was resolved: in the case of a vehicle licensed to carry in excess of 4 passengers, all rows of seats shall direct have access to a minimum of one door. All doors shall be capable of being opened from the inside and outside the vehicle.

The licensing unit admits it has never implemented this resolution and now offer the owners/drivers the following options

1 Grandfather rights to all vehicles currently licensed

2 recall affected vehicles and amend the licence for the carriage of 4 passengers

3 Recall affected vehicles and revoke the licence

4 Remove the Licence condition completly

The feeling among drivers is option 4.

The council have asked 7 adjoining councils for their views, 3 say they have no rules regarding access to doors but the other 4 say they do but they also allow backward facing seats which would give access to doors.

Might be an interesting meeting at the council Tuesday 6th Jan 2009

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you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.

Gets my vote.

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IDFIMH

If they go for 2 or 3 just to be fecking awkward, go on strike, or appeal to a magistrate

so mother knows best again


dont these LA's even consider the fact that Ford, Merc, PSA, VOSA, MIRA all do millions of pounds worth of research into passenger safety before allowing any vehicle to be sold?

so right now my council COULD decide to ban 8 pax vehicles (although my tourneo is 7 pax) whilst HC-plating a peugot 307 hatchback which gives passengers as much accident protection as a string vest, whereas my rear seat passengers wouldnt feel the 307 as I drive over it...

My seating is also fully neck/head high for adults (even for me at over 6 feet tall), the 307 only comfortably seats mini-me's.

Once again we see LA's having to justify jobs with silly stupid new R&R's...

Of course they Don't think, they are council operatives, they are like the Borg..no more than Humanoid drones that seek only the collective goal of a safe job, chunky wage, gold plated Pension and an early retirement...why should they want to Think!!!