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School prom limo chauffeurs to be faced with rigorous checks

March 25, 2010

Licensing officers in the South Staffordshire area plan to attend each prom being held in the district over the summer in order to access that every chauffeur is properly licensed to be carrying prom-goers.

The move comes after a number of complaints were made last year in regards to unlicensed limo hire firms transporting youngsters to schools proms. Concerns were raised about the safety of the school pupils who could end up being transported in an unlicensed limo with a chauffeur who has not been properly checked by authorities.

South Staffordshire council have written to every secondary school in the area to find out where each prom is being held. They plan to send three licensing officers to each venue on prom night to run checks on limos and chauffeurs as they drop off the youngsters at the party.

The chauffeurs must prove that they and the vehicle are correctly licensed with either the council or the Department of Transport. They will also be checking that the limos are carrying the correct number of passengers and that there is no over-loading taking place. From last year only limos which have a COIF certificate are legally allowed to carry over 8 passengers.

The council is also asking for parents to be vigilant and to check their chosen limo firm is correctly licensed before making a school prom booking.

Source; http://news.limobroker.co.uk/school-pro ... cks-36250/

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Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

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Nice idea but in practice it will be unworkable. The reason for this is because there will be more proms on some days than there are officials to attend. Just how many licensing officers are there in this area? Mind you I hope that they do attend as many as possible to catch the wedding only firms carrying kids without licenses.

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Grandad,

It could be their hen night 10 years early, sold as a package

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

This will be easy. Just pull them up when they are on the road and whala. Go to the local Council Depot please.

One of the busiest venues in the area for proms, will not allow the authorities onto their property to make checks!

Then get either VOSA or the Police to stop them on the public highway.

It might well be unworkable in practise, but in theory it will keep the iffy motors away.

That said there are only so many secondary schools in each area, so why shouldn't they all be catered for?

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IDFIMH

The article will act as a deterrent, will the unlicensed cowboys dare risk being stopped.....I dont think I would

CC

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

Like I said, just how many staff have they got? They want 3 at each venue.

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Grandad,

They will still go out. They are allthere at places like Royal Ascot and nothingever gets done. Once I even pointed out to 2 police officers a limo that had no orange indicators, no tax disc and american number plates so it clearly wasn't even registered in this country and they weren't even bothered.

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Grandad,

But they are never all on the same evening?

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IDFIMH

There are about 3 dates that would cover at least 50% of the proms in the country. The main date this year is June 25th. There must be at least a dozen proms in and around my area on this date alone. After this date there are proms on 6 nights a week, how many licensing personell are going to be out working on all 6 nights for 3 weeks solid? It just won't happen. I believe that this has been released in the hope that some will not go out but most people in the game know that the manpower won't be there and carry on regardless.
I remember one about 3 years ago in Nottingham at the Hilton hotel. They had the police, VOSA and the LA outside waiting for limos to pull up so they could check them. I had to go around 3 times before I got pulled. They counted how many passengers got out, saw my drivers badge and the PH plate in the front window and sent me on my way. The dodgy operators could see what was happening and dropped the kids off about 100 yards up the road.

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Grandad,

And their prom nights are staggered over a number of weeks, so why shouldn't it be workable?

_________________
Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

Type a message, post your news,
Disagree with other members' views;
But please, do have some decorum,
When debating on the TDO Forum.

As I have already pointed out, most proms are not staggered. Most proms are on just 3 nights. If you don't believe me try sending out an enquiry to as many limo companys as you can find anywhere in the country for June 25th and see how many can actually do it. There will not be very many who have a car available. I was fully booked before christmas.

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Grandad,

I can only go by my area and they are staggered, never more than one a night to stop the pi**ed up youths fighting each other.

In my view enforcement by that one council will be fine, all it needs is the rest to do likewise.

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IDFIMH