Taxi Driver Online

No pun intended of course...

You are right there Mr Steptoe

Anyone can by an old white Merc & start up a wedding car business

No exhorbatent Council fees,
No councillors deciding if you are 'fit & proper',
No dress codes,
No age vehicle age restrictions,
No vehicle colour restrictions.
No ugly I.D. plates,
No taxi enforcement officers acting like God
No Council vehicle testers acting like God

I'm off to see the local small business start-up advisor

You don't have to drive for the whole 24 hours, you just have to charge a daily rate.

As for the licensing issue, well they should be. But I suspect a few aren't. And the reason they aren't is quite simple. P*** poor enforcement.

_________________
IDFIMH

Doesn't this part of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act mean that so-called 'chauffeur' & limo operators should be licensed ?

s 23 Interpretation of sections 10 to 22.

(1) In sections 10 to 22 of this Act--

"private hire car" means a hire car other than a taxi within the meaning
of this subsection.

(2) In subsection (1) above, "hire car" means a motor vehicle with a driver
(other than a vehicle being a public service vehicle within the meaning of
section 1(1)(a) of the Public Passenger Vehicles Act 1981) which
is, with a view to profit, available for hire by the public for personal
conveyance.

I think that bit just means that a hire car (ie either a taxi or PHV) is not bus and that it's trying to make a profit and not just picking up hitchhikers or similar.

Various bodies including the task group set up by the Scottish Executive seem to think the Act covers limos & 'chauffeurs'

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/society/tglp-05.asp

Note in particular 'Section 23 — Interpretation of sections 10-22'

Recommendation

The Task Group concluded that the provisions contained at section 23 of the Act, including the definitions of "taxi" and "private hire car", remain appropriate. However, in view of the concerns expressed about "unregulated vehicles", e.g. limousines, converted fire engines and ambulances, etc, and in the absence of any other mechanism to license such vehicles and their drivers, we recommend that the Executive issues guidance to licensing authorities encouraging them to adapt their existing licensing scheme to regulate those vehicles which fall within the definition of phc. In doing so, it follows that the drivers of such vehicles should also be covered by the licensing regime. To assist licensing authorities in doing so, we further recommend that SOLAR be asked to draw up model conditions for the various non-standard vehicles that fall within the definition of "private hire car" and that these be incorporated within the guidance. Finally, that Scottish Ministers review the position two years after the guidance and model conditions has been issued with a view to determining whether the concerns over "unregulated vehicles" have been adequately addressed.


Dundee City Council seems to think the Act covers them too

http://www.dundeecity.gov.uk/reports/re ... 4-2004.pdf

Well at least at a wedding you get to smell your own flowers.

and to add...
would you also need hire and reward insurance for chauffering ( approx £2000 p.a. ) ?? same as P/H ? .
also...i take it ALL money/s HAVE to be paid UPFRONT > days before journey commences ? or can i take it in the car the same as a P/H after i drop em off ??

I'm sure that if you offered those sort of cars for wedding hire then you'd only be laffed at.

It would need in, my opinion, to be a classic Jag or Daimler, this one http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... %3AIT&rd=1 just sold on ebay for only £561 the other day.

This one here is currently on ebay at £560 and is a real example of a good classic.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... %3AIT&rd=1

For that special moment it would have to be a special car, most of us have been married and we all know, that very special moment lasts for one day only.

I'd would have had either of these two cars for my wedding day, sprayed in a nice shade of white with ribbons & flowers etc.

As it's already been mentioned here I'm sure you'd have to have a contract written out and handed over before the event of the hire otherwise it wouldn't be a contract hire I guess.

As also mentioned here, you could have the contract for the car available for the full 24 hours, in the case of school runs where a contract is drawn up to pick up a child twice a day and drop them off to school and home I'm sure this wouldn't fall into the category of needing a PH driver, or am I wrong? You could have the same vehicle available to complete other contracts during other times in the day, I guess?

hmmm....what i was told by licence people was that..

i could do 1 hire in ANY 24 period...i would not need it plated...
confused ? yep !

Not really too confusing, I guess it means that it would be ok to take on a contract for the day and not have to be PH badged and plated.

If you were driving a limo throughout the day for say a business then this would sound feasable.

Or maybe various aiport runs throught the day for a business.

er...she said i couldnt do ANY school contracts unless my car WAS plated !.

and ANY other work was ONLY 1 HIRE per 24hr period...1 hire WTF ?
so..i could get a private contract... i could take them to there work or whatever but...
i couldnt pick them back up at nite for the r/t journey as this would be classed as 2 HIRES...so she says....

Bloody typical of the council, they shoot you down from every direction with every chance they can...

You would need to have a contract (for over seven days) with a start date, and just as important, an end date.

_________________
IDFIMH