Taxi Driver Online

Police limo impound was ‘unnecessary’

17 Oct, 2010

A Kent limousine operator is considering legal action after a crackdown cost his business more than £600.

Peter Moore from Delta Limousines which has been licensed since 2004, was stopped at a recent VOSA operation at Wembley, where a total of seventeen vehicles were stopped and eleven were found to be faulty or flouting driver hour rules. A Lincoln Towncar operated by Delta Limos was one of the vehicles which was inspected on the first day of the operation in London.

Following a successful check by VOSA officials, he was apparently approached by a Metropolitan Police traffic officer who questioned the use of the passenger seat in the Tiffany built Lincoln. Mr Moore does not hold a PSV licence but has signed a declaration to say he will not carry more than eight passengers.

However, the limousine was confiscated by Police even though the vehicle had already been given the thumbs-up by VOSA inspectors. The car was taken to a pound in West London and was collected the following day when the registered owner produced all the relevant documents.

Mr Moore told thechauffeur.com; “My local authority has tested the vehicle every six months since it was registered and SVA’d in 2006, and has never had a problem with the passenger seat in the front. I was praised by VOSA at the Wembley inspection due to my organised paperwork and my limousines condition, but the Police still decided to impound the car after letting other vehicles on their way even though they were faulty.”

He added; “Another limousine which was stopped was given a Delayed Prohibition for a faulty ball joint which is crazy as this can actually be a danger if it breaks. However, it seems as if a passenger seat warrants the car being confiscated – it just doesn’t make sense. It really shows VOSA and the Police are working from different hymn sheets sometimes.”

The limousine was driven away by Police, leaving his passengers with no ride home. Officers apparently offered to return his clients to their homes in the Met Police minibus which was nearby, but Mr Moore was later contacted by his clients when this did not happen.

Peter commented; “If the Police told me at the time that it was my responsibility to get the clients home then it would not have been a problem – but leaving them high and dry and completely embarrassed me and the business. I was fortunate enough to still be in the area and managed to make other arrangements”.

The vehicle which was impounded last week (12th October 2010) passed its most recent six month inspection with the local authority and the examiner stating the front passenger seat is simply part of the drivers area and it is obvious it has never been used to transport paying passengers.

Delta Limousines has since offered a complimentary journey to the group who were left stranded. thechauffeur.com has received no official comment from the Metropolitan Police.

Source; http://www.thechauffeur.com/2010/10/pol ... %E2%80%99/

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Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

Type a message, post your news,
Disagree with other members' views;
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When debating on the TDO Forum.

Oh well that makes it all f***ing right then.

It will be interesting to see if the Traffic Commissioner re-issues his restricted vehicle licenses when they come up for renewal.

The VOSA man at the Taxi show gave me the impression none would get re-issued, unless the license banned limo use.

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IDFIMH

Limo people think the rules dont apply to them

Looks like he does not have a PSV ops licence but a local authority licence . It also says VOSA were happy with his paperwork so if he is doing it "right" and correctly licensed by his local authority, I fail to see what your point is about. There are now some Limo's doing a proper job in a proper way so all credit to them.

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

If its Licenced for eight Passenger seats, then its Nine Seats in Total.....a Tenth seat is one to many no matter where it is...end of!!!

Why's Vosa involved...Isnt Eight Passenger Seats still in the PH/Taxi domain?

8 is, 9 isnt HOWEVER, all my plate says is "Licensed to carry 4 passengers", im sure i could get 5 in if i wanted..........

No sorry that is incorrect, check with your local VOSA station. It is why the SVA etc were brought in although many have and do abuse the system it appears clear this guy was doing it correctly.

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

I would put any money I have on him having no PSV/PH/HC license.

The reason being is he doesn't need one to drive a PSV vehicle less than 8 seats.

If he was doing a proper job then he wouldn't be in the predicament he found him self in.

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IDFIMH

so why did his LA test the limo if not to plate it?

I guess he can Could have 9 Passenger seats...but then it would become a PSV with 9 to 16 Passenger Seats and requiring the Driver to have a D1 drivers licence as Minibus drivers do.

Simply by saying a particular seat or Seats are never used does not detract from the fact that they are there and potentially could be used.

I could Buy a 16 Passenger seat Minibus but if i wanted to use it as a PH or without a D1 licence for hire or reward Id need to remove 8 of those seats before it would be legally acceptable as a PH or on an OPs licicence as an 8 passenger seat vehicle...matters not a Fig if one or even 2 of those seats are next to the drivers seat..they are still seats..

Some of the limousines have a front passengers seat in. They carry 8 passengers in the back plus driver. When you get the limo registered for the first time you have to sign a declaration stating that at no time will the vehicle carry more than 8 passengers. To be correct the front passenger seat should be removed but because of the way the electrics and airbags work, you can't remove the seat.
So basically you carry either 8 passengers in the back or upto seven passengers in the back and an extra driver in the front. One of my limos was like this and there was never a problem with the council licensing the vehicle or at any time when we were stopped by VOSA or the police.

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Grandad,

I dont drive a limo but surely the answer is in the plateing "licenced to carry 8 people" it doesnt say licenced to have 8 seats. If he had been stopped with more than 8 people in the vehicle then he would have been wrong, but if he only had 8 or less............where is the problem?

It's the law, and as it applies to the licensed taxi and PH trade, it should bloody well apply to those things.

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IDFIMH