From January 2009 limousines will be impounded and crushed says the Traffic Commissioner.
A stretch Limousine Hire Company received a letter from the Traffic Commissioner and disturbing excerpts are quoted below referring to the ongoing persecution of the limousine business by intending to start impounding and crushing limousines.
Extract reads:-
The public may take some comfort from the fact that the Local Transport Bill going through Parliament makes provision to impound vehicles where there is operation without a PSV licence where one is required. The public will be further comforted by the fact that illegal 9 to 16 seat stretch limousines without a COIF are likely to be the first such vehicles to be impounded. My understanding is that if they are incapable of being sold by VOSA at auction because they are not capable of being made fully compliant at an economic cost, they are likely to be crushed.
Limousine hire companies have been campaigning for years to have regulations which are compliable and as it seems this is way too much effort to change for the limousines which are already on the roads, they have decided to simply wipe out your business!
The Traffic Commissioner then also goes on to say:-
Yet further comfort should be taken from the introduction of the Graduated Fixed Penalty Scheme which is to be brought in next year. Once this is introduced, drivers will find that "on the spot" fines will be imposed for the wide range of offences that are likely to follow, including the need for proper installation and use of speed limiters and tachographs.
Lives are obviously worth more if you pay!
Look at the comment below from the Traffic Commissioner - What a ludicrous state of affairs when a car is considered unsafe if you pay but safe if you journey privately. So I take it the traffic commissioner and VOSA take the stance that if you have a large family and require a vehicle seating more than 9 the lives of your family are not important. However, if 9 people in a car pay to travel in it then they their lives are oh so much more important! Are they really being this mercenary or is this really an indication that the limousines are of course safe – but it is just too much effort and work to change the COIF regulations!
Traffic Commissioner writes:-
One comment from the Operator is that it is quite peculiar that stretch limousines are allowed to continue to be imported into the UK". It is also a comment that I have seen from some other operators attempting to justify their illegal activities. These operators ignore the very basic point that many of these limousines can lawfully be imported into the UK and used for private use. It is only if a vehicle is to be used for hire and reward that the requirement for a COIF is triggered. It has always been, and remains legal to import a vehicle for private use where the safety standards are not the same as for the purposes of carrying paying passengers.
Look foward to hearing your comments on the above.
