Crackdown on prom limos in safety drive
Prom-goers in the Black Country and Staffordshire could be faced with a shortage of stretch limousines this summer after traffic officers announced they were getting tough on unsafe vehicles.
Prom-goers in the Black Country and Staffordshire could be faced with a shortage of stretch limousines this summer after traffic officers announced they were getting tough on unsafe vehicles.
Scores of unlicensed cars, stretched Hum Vees and other novelty vehicles are putting lives at risk, according to West Midlands traffic commissioner Nick Jones. Today he revealed new fixed penalty charges and powers to immobilise vehicles will come into force within the next three months.
Mr Jones, who makes judicial decisions on vehicle licenses for businesses, is warning teenagers could be at risk from unscrupulous firms running unsafe vehicles without licences.
He said: "There are good operators out there but there are many who are breaking the law.
"An example from Wales is of a man who was found to have converted his limo to liquid petroleum gas and his passengers were effectively sitting on top of the tank which is highly dangerous.
"There have been examples of drivers using child locks on the back door which means that in a fire, the passengers could not get out.
"The police tell me there are between 30,000 and 40,000 limousines in the country.
"A large number were adapted from what they were originally and a large number are essentially 'cut and shuts', which is where the cars are sawn apart and put together again. If they are just for personal use and comply with regulations they are perfectly lawful. If they are being used for hire then different rules apply and they need a licence.
Mr Jones said within the next few months, new rules were coming in where the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency will be able to issue fixed penalty notices, which can run to hundreds of pounds, for violations.
"Officers will be looking especially at larger vehicles for things such as the speed limiters which they must have fitted", Mr Jones said.
"They will have the power to immobilise vehicles by fitting a device to stop it moving.
"In October the rules will give officers the power to impound. In these cases vehicles without a licence when they should have one can be taken off the road and if it is commercially viable the vehicle will be made safe and sold. If not it will be crushed."
