For all those who hire Limos or are thinking about hiring one.
 

Limousine Seized By Police At Prom
Glamorous pupils arrive at the prom where police found eight limousines committing offences.

16 July 2009

A stretch limousine was seized by police just minutes after it had transported Spalding students to their year 11 prom at Springfields.

Police and VOSA (Vehicle and Operators Services Agency) officers inspected 12 limos that carried pupils of Spalding’s Grammar and High Schools to their joint prom on July 3, eight of which were found to be committing offences.

One of them, a stretch Land Rover, was seized by officers for not having the correct licence and being overweight – which posed a safety risk to the students on board.

Others received fines for various reasons, including having no MoT certificates and excessive window tinting.

According to VOSA, the reason why its officers could not check the vehicles before they took the pupils to the prom was because of a complex law that says they have to see the vehicles as they are being used with passengers.

Bill Harrison, VOSA area manager for Lincolnshire, added: “The operation was a complete success helping to take un-roadworthy and illegally operated vehicles off the road, improving road safety and protecting the public.

“The check was planned meticulously so that we did not spoil the evening for the young people.

“I can confirm that VOSA and police officers found a significant amount of offences and serious defects to justify any time spent.”

The news will come as a shock to parents who shell out for the vehicles each year so that their children can make a grand entrance to their prom.

In recent years there has been ever-increasing contest among South Holland students to out-do each other by arriving at their proms in the most unusual vehicles – and limousines are often a popular choice.

Pc Rob Hook, of the Lincolnshire Police road policing unit, said: “We are concerned that such a high percentage of the vehicles we checked did not meet safety requirements or licensing regulations.

“We would like to warn limousine operators that they must ensure their vehicles are safe and adhere to legislation.

“Many people see travelling in a stretch limo as part of a really special occasion, and we will continue to do all we can to ensure that they are transported safely and within the law.”

Source; SpaldingToday - brought to you by The Lincolnshire Free Press & Spalding Guardian.


I have seen these vehicles increase 100% over the last few years, they are not made for our roads, they are made for the American roads which are straight and have no road humps. It's about time they were banned, many operators are breaking the law when carrying passengers, some limos are carrying anything up to 12-14 people, these vehicles aren't buses they aren't strong enough to carry 12-14 people.

Some a driven by drivers who haven't undergone a CRB check, some have major convictions assault and other serious crimes.

Re: For all those who hire Limo's or are thinking about hiring one.
 

I have always wondered what exactly is difference between stretching a car that was never designed to be stretched - Range Rover, Hummer etc and a cut and shut?

Re: For all those who hire Limo's or are thinking about hiring one.
 

How utterly ridiculous. It's a good job the police don't have to wait to see a gun/knife being used before acting.....

Re: For all those who hire Limo's or are thinking about hiring one.
 

You would imagine a whole new sub frame would be built rather than just welding together the 2 ends and a bit in the middle although I have no idea.

All in all I see this as a nice way of deliberately spoiling the kids night out. Yes the vehicles should be safe but targetting them in this was is a shame for the kids
IMO they could have easily photographed the vehicles with passengers and stung them later . This way they would not have ruined an important night for the kids

Re: For all those who hire Limo's or are thinking about hiring one.
 

Remember though we know live in a society where kids basically don't have fun.

It seems to be the default view of the police and government (and quite a lot of adults) then if more than two young people get together for whatever reason (unless it is school/something boring) then something bad is going to happen AND IT MUST BE STOPPED!

Re: For all those who hire Limo's or are thinking about hiring one.
 

Thats all the lincolnshire police are good for is motorists.

Re: For all those who hire Limo's or are thinking about hiring one.
 

Aye. Bunch of facists hiding behind bushes with speed guns when they could be out catching thieves, murderers and rapists. :rolleyes:

Oh...

https://lincs.police.uk/index.asp?locID=44&docID=2076
https://lincs.police.uk/index.asp?locID=44&docID=1912
https://lincs.police.uk/index.asp?locID=44&docID=2078

etc. etc.

Re: For all those who hire Limo's or are thinking about hiring one.
 

the only thing about this one is that its the inability of the law to change to accommodate and provide proper licensing and construction use rules for these vehicles which leads to this

some are still classed as cars some as mini buses and some can fall under the coach rules

and as you get lots of people with no experiance setting up by just bying second hand or imported ones its hardly surprising that this happens

i do think its daft if there were suspected serious and i emphasise serious problems and just not technical breaches of rules then they should have acted before they were used !

however i expect that its mostly just going to be technical breaches in the main that the lawyers will have fun with trying to prove and disprove what ones apply to what ;)


see some of these

http://www.bigandlong.co.uk/NLAUK.html

this one most probably is illegal

http://www.hirelimolondon.co.uk/

this one should be ok

http://www.dv8limousines.co.uk/limo-liner-hire.html

simple you would think

so going on above the middle one could just betaken out of buisness by a visit from VOSA and the plod ;)

but !

i and most of you can legaly drive all of those middle links vehicles and put up to 45 yes i said 45 people in them and drive around all day and there is not one law to stop you or me AS long as none of them are paying for the journey

but all of them could have paid to hire the vehicle

confused ?

so is the law lol

what is needed is for the legislation to issue certificates to limos so they can be properly licensed checked and made safe rather than occasional headline grabbing stuff like this

Re: For all those who hire Limo's or are thinking about hiring one.
 

They havent been given a new sub frame Zing, I watched a programme the other week on SKY about vehicles being bought in from America, some of these Limos were death traps even the new ones. They went undercover and booked a Limo for 12 people, the stress the limo was under due to the weight was unreal, one engineer said, "it's a wonder it didn't snap in two". They were also concerned that the driver wasn't carrying a PSV licence.

Re: For all those who hire Limo's or are thinking about hiring one.
 

Prom? have I moved to the US of A without noticing?. Not all vehicles have sub frames and lengthening if done properly is quite safe. But the brakes and the suspension are not always uprated to cope with the extra weight.I believe that the vehicle has to have 14 or more seats to need a PSV licence.

Re: For all those who hire Limo's or are thinking about hiring one.
 

only if you are using it as a mini bus which is where the problem is here

they wont classify these as buses in this country at the moment leavng a gaping hole in the protection of the public

all these companies do is hire out the vehical they dont charge for the trip so no psv is needed and the limo doesnt need to be tested like a mini bus

Re: For all those who hire Limo's or are thinking about hiring one.
 

Off-topic but we were doing proms when I was at school nearly 10 years ago so it's not a new thing by any means.

Re: For all those who hire Limo's or are thinking about hiring one.
 

I don't get out a lot,;);) It's still a stupid Americanism that we could have managed without, much like limo's.

Re: For all those who hire Limo's or are thinking about hiring one.
 

If you are carrying anything over 8 fare paying passengers you need a PSV licence, if you are carrying them free of charge you can drive the vehicle on a normal car licence.

Re: For all those who hire Limo's or are thinking about hiring one.
 

dont know why people would go for a limo, if I was young again I would go for say this: http://www.johndagostinokustomkars.c...0Cool%2057.jpg

Re: For all those who hire Limo's or are thinking about hiring one.
 

the point there is fare paying

this is the problem as they will point out when they are investigated that they only hired out a vehicle then those hiring it used a driver

let me explain 16 of you decide to go away to a match and hire your own mini bus one of you decides not to drink and drives does he need a PSV ?


answer is no

now we reduce that to 15 but no one wants to drive so some one asks another mate if he is willing to come as long as he doesnt drink to drive them

does he need a PSV ?

NO

however if you pay him Just for the trip there and back then he does

see where this gets complicated ?

there have been loads of these raids by VOSA and the police but very few result in any court action as under the rules as they are its fairly easy to avoid getting prosecuted


what is needed is clearer rules proper licensing of these vehicles not headline grabbing raids

Re: For all those who hire Limo's or are thinking about hiring one.
 

We didn't have proms, but we had an end-of-school dance..

Re: For all those who hire Limo's or are thinking about hiring one.
 

I wonder if there are any insurance restrictions if the vehicle or driver is not psv.

I know it has become increasingly difficult for collectors of classic buses to obtain insurance for carrying passenger over a certain number. One of my friends has a classic bus and used to provide free transport at a local railway preservation society open day, I know that due to the insurance issues he no longer does this.

Re: For all those who hire Limo's or are thinking about hiring one.
 

you would think so as the insurance company could end up in more trouble than the operators but they still seem willing to insure these vehicles

Re: For all those who hire Limo's or are thinking about hiring one.
 

At the end of the day nearly all of the Limos are breaking the law when they are carrying passengers, I've seen 16 getting out of a battered up old Lincoln once in Nottingham, I wondered how it stopped together.

None of the drivers are licensed by their local Councils, they haven't had an enhanced CRB records check, no medical no nothing.

Re: For all those who hire Limo's or are thinking about hiring one.
 

I don't know if it applies here, but I know that when my father was a Mini Cab driver, he had to have Public Carriage Insurance. I don't know if that was a legal requirement or a requirement of the firm though (they have a good reputation in our borough, and apparently work quite hard to keep it).

Re: For all those who hire Limo's or are thinking about hiring one.
 

they need nothing but their driving licence and insurance to drive because they are not being taxi drivers or bus drivers they are merely being a driver for some one who has hired a vehicle

until the law changes and they recognise that these vehicles are here to stay it seems that the public wont get the protection that the taxi and or psv requirement give

Re: For all those who hire Limo's or are thinking about hiring one.
 

Maybe its my age showing wolfie;) but I couldn't agree more, an end of year prom!!! What was wrong with the old school disco??:)

Re: For all those who hire Limo's or are thinking about hiring one.
 

Based on my experience, many many things! ;)

Re: For all those who hire Limos or are thinking about hiring one.
 

Having just gone through my 3rd prom with a 3rd limo for my 4th child leaving primary school I can honestly say, yes it's expensive but well worth it.

The dress, the tiara, the heels, a lot of the kids looked like mini adults but most looked like fairy princesses.
The limos were varied from the typical white stretch limo to the stretch hummer that was well kitted out and looked brand new.
The driver was great, careful and very conscious of having our kids in his limo.
The best thing? The kids absolutely loved it

The limo was massive compared to the kids but as you can see my daughter was seriously excited to be going.

Re: For all those who hire Limos or are thinking about hiring one.
 

Everything looks good when the kids get out but it doesn't look like that when ones been in an accident, 80% of limos in the UK are running illegally.

Re: For all those who hire Limos or are thinking about hiring one.
 

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i dont think that's correct i think its 80% unlicensed but thats because they wont licence them