jimbo wrote:
A little research, JD.
"during 1906 the public carriage office at Scotland Yard decided that they should issue construction and licensing regulations for motor cabs, as they had done for horse (drawn) cabs since 1869...These laid down strict rules about the dimensions of chassis and body... a maximum turning circle of (get this) 25 feet was laid down... This led to a host of manufacturers submitting cabs to the PCO hoping to share in the lucrative market... Between 1905 and 1914at least 45 British and foriegn manufacturers had cab designs licensed...
I'm glad you found the details that the "turning circle condition for motorised vehicles" was established when the first Conditions of Fitness for "motorised vehicles" were introduced in 1906 because it makes your inference that LTI can sue the PCO/TFL even more fanciful.
I suppose a turning circle of 25ft was not uncommon in those days considering the size of the vehicles. However it doesn't alter the fact I was 34 years out in my estimation of the 25ft condition of fitness. Before I posted that response I did actually phone the PCO to try and confirm the actual date of when the condition was first applied but surprisingly no one there could give me a firm answer? I have posted some relevant facts below appertaining to the London history of the Taxicab trade, this information is freely available on the Internet and copyright is property of the individual copyright holders.
The fact I was 34 years out does not in any way make your original statement any more credible in fact it detracts from it. It confirms that LTI as it is now made a conscious decision to enter a market knowing full well the conditions it had to abide by. They were also aware that those administering the conditions could also change those conditions at any time in the future. The question is not one of when the turning circle was introduced, the question is do the PCO have the right to alter the conditions of fitness? Your inference is that they don't. I doubt you will find anyone of sound mind who will agree with you.
JD
Vehicle Registration and Licensing Records
Hackney carriages
Hackney coaches plying for hire in London, Westminster and the surrounding areas were first required to be licensed in 1662. A licence cost £5 a year. From 1662, the minimum size of horse was specified, and from 1679, “conditions of fitness” were laid down by the Hackney Coach Commissioners regulating the size and construction of the coaches.
In 1694 an Act of Parliament made the Hackney Coach Commissioners permanent and established the Hackney Coach Office. This and the Commissioners were abolished by the London Hackney Carriage Act of 1831. Previous limitations on the numbers of hackney carriages in London were removed. Licences for hackney carriages operating within a five mile radius of the General Post Office were in future to be issued by the Board of Stamps, which did not, however, inherit the regulatory powers enjoyed by the Hackney Coach Commissioners. In 1838 the Home Secretary was empowered to appoint a Registrar of Metropolitan Public Carriages who licensed hackney carriage drivers and conductors.
{b]The office of Registrar was abolished in 1850 and his responsibilities transferred to the Metropolitan Police. Jurisdiction over hackney carriage proprietors had remained with the Board of Stamps, then from 1849 with the
Board of Inland Revenue, who issued hackney carriage licences. From 1853 proprietors had to produce certificates to show that their carriages had been inspected and approved by the Metropolitan Police.
The Metropolitan Public Carriages Act of 1869 transferred responsibility for licensing hackney carriages to the Home Secretary who delegated it to the Commissioner of Police. The Public Carriage Office was established to deal with this work. From 1843 the area of jurisdiction over hackney carriages had been extended to the Metropolitan Police District and the City of London. The first petrol driven cab was licensed in 1903 and by 1914 the horsedrawn hansom cab was rapidly disappearing. In 1906 the Public Carriage Office drew up “Conditions of Fitness for Motor Hackney Carriages” which required amongst other regulations that vehicles should be capable of being turned within a 25 feet circle. [/b]
In London, unlike other cities, a dual jurisdiction existed over motor cabs, as while the Public Carriage Office licensed the driver and the vehicle for use as a hackney carriage, the driver of any motor vehicle had also to be licensed by the London County Council and the cab had to be registered by the London County Council as a motor car. See below for further information.
Vehicle registration and driver licensing Under the terms of the 1903 Motor Car Act all motor vehicles and motorcycles had to be licensed by their local county or county borough council for use on public roads and were assigned individual registration numbers. All drivers were likewise to be licensed by their local authorities. The former London and Middlesex County Councils were the licensing and registration authorities for their respective areas. Local authority powers were consolidated by the 1920 Roads Act. The 1933 Road and Rail Traffic Act laid down that public service and goods vehicles were to be licensed by Traffic Commissioners who were appointed by the Ministry of Transport. The 1934 Road Traffic Act introduced driving tests from April 1934. London and Middlesex County Councils continued to be registration and licensing authorities until their abolition. The Greater London Council assumed the role on 1 April 1965. On 1 November 1976 the Department of Transport’s Driver and Vehicle Licensing Centre at Swansea took over the issue of drivers’ licences. On 18 March 1978 the Department took responsibility for vehicle registration and licensing.
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London Taxi History
HORSE-DRAWN CARRIAGES
The first record of public vehicles plying for hire in London was in 1588, when the first horse drawn ‘coaches’ were available for hire. By 1768, there were over a thousand thronging the streets of London, causing considerable congestion. They became known as Hackney Coaches from the French ‘Hacquenee’ meaning a strong horse hired out for journeys.
Some horse-drawn carriages continued to ply for hire into the 1930’s but most had gone by 1914, the outbreak of the First World War. The very last horse drawn cab license was surrendered on the 3rd April 1947.
MOTORISED CABS
The first motorised taxicabs were surprisingly, electrically powered. 25 were introduced in August 1897 and by 1898 there a further fifty of them were at work. These were called Bersey cabs named after their inventor but were nicknamed ‘Hummingbirds’ from the sound that they made. Unfortunately due to poor design and unreliable batteries the business failed as custom remained loyal to the horse drawn cabs and by 1900, a life of only two years, they had all disappeared.
The first petrol driven cab was a French-built Prunel, introduced in 1903. These cabs copied much from the design of the horse drawn Hansom cab and were for two people with the driver perched high up behind the two brave passengers. French influence continued and Renault soon dominated the Edwardian market with over a thousand vehicles in service on the streets of London. Also making big strides at this time were the Unic, Fiat, Sorex, Belize and Darracq with their taxicabs. Smaller taxi builders of the day included Ford with their Model B taxi, of which only twenty-five were made before they withdrew from the market. Other small volume builders included; Herald, Rational and Thames. The Dawfield-Phillips Company made the front wheel driven ‘Pullcar’ and the Adams-Hewlett Company made a single cylinder taxi.
At the turn of the Twentieth Century the British makers offering purpose built taxicabs were Napier, Rover, Humber, Wolseley-Siddeley, Vauxhall and Argyll.
The First World War devastated the taxi trade. The majority of the drivers were called up to fight and only old drivers were available, driving run down and worn out cabs. Production of new cabs ceased for the duration and so by 1918, any new cabs that were available were beyond the pockets of the returning servicemen and the trade went into decline.
BETWEEN THE WARS
The Scottish company William Beardmore & Co Ltd who were a major engineering concern making engines and private cars based in Paisley started to produce the Beardmore Mark 1 Taxicab in 1919. The Beardmore Mk 2 and 3 taxi followed in 1923 and 1928 respectively. The Mark 3 taxi was called the Hyper cab and became a very popular taxi of its day. Beardmore did not have all it’s own way as Citröen entered the fray with their cab that took a fair share of the market.
Austin introduced the High Lot Taxi in 1930 followed in 1934 by the 12/4 Low Loader. Morris produced the Commercial cab in 1928 followed by the G2 cab in 1932. These two names quickly dominated the market, as they were more reliable than the French imports and cheaper than the Beardmore Hyper.
The outbreak of the Second World War again put paid to the taxi trade as the majority of the drivers disappeared into the forces and production of new cabs ceased for the duration. The taxi trade was one area during the war where women did not take over the male driver’s role, as there was no time for the women to undergo the extensive geographical training that the men had completed. The situation at the end of the Second World War was much the same as at the end of the First World War. There was a shortage of drivers leaving only old drivers still working; driving run down and worn out cabs and the trade again went into decline.
AFTER THE SECOND WORLD WAR
A new post war taxi was urgently needed. Morris/Nuffield produced the Wolseley/Oxford taxi in 1946. This was a three-door cab with an exposed drivers compartment but by 1949 a crude partition had been added it became a totally enclosed three-door cab. In 1948 Austin produced a new cab with the FX3 taxicab and again Austin was out in front from the very beginning, with the FX3 almost dominating the market at that time. The FX3 was at first produced with a petrol engine but in 1953 a diesel-powered version with a Ferguson engine was made available. In late 1954 Austin produced a diesel version of the 2.2 engine and this was designated the FX3D. In 1949 Austin adapted the FX3 for Private Hire use and produced the FL1, which was basically a FX3 but fitted with four doors, a bench front seat and without the ‘For Hire’ roof sign.
Austin produced the next generation taxi in 1959 with the FX4 and this famous shape that you will all be familiar with, remained in continuous production with various modifications, including Eight different types of engine! Right up until 1998. Carbodies Ltd of Coventry who bought the production rights to the FX4 from BMC finally laid the FX4 ‘Fairway’ to rest in 1998 and by this time over 75,000 FX4s had been built. The Morris Commercial cab had fallen by the wayside many years previously and the last Beardmore; the Mark 7 (produced from 1955) was discontinued in 1967.
The next production taxi, from Winchester Automobiles (West End) Ltd, was made from glass-fibre. Launched in 1964, the first three variants were quite rounded but the Series 4 looked more like the contemporary FX4. Production was small and ceased in 1972.
TODAY
Following a brief trial with just two cabs in 1969/70, Metro-Cammell launched the Metrocab in 1986. The fibre-glass panelled vehicle has been produced under four ownerships, each in turn going into receivership. A fifth incarnation is imminent
Meanwhile, London Taxis International, who now own Carbodies, replaced the famous FX4/Fairway shape with the TX1 in 1998. An updated version with a Ford engine, known as the TX11, is now in production.
If you are toying with buying an older FX4 as a plaything there are plenty of cheap and reasonable examples around as many are de-commissioned every year.
MISCELLANEA
The laws regulating the present day taxi trade go back a very long way. In 1654 Oliver Cromwell set up ‘The Fellowship of Master Hackney Coachmen’. This fellowship was discontinued in 1657. Between 1654 and 1714 Hackney Coaches displayed on the carriage doors the Hackney Registration Number. After 1714 a metal plate showing the Hackney Registration Number was displayed on the rear of the Hackney Coach and although the Hackney Licence Plates of today are computer generated in forgery proof plastic, today’s Licensed Taxicabs still display a Licence Plate on the rear of the vehicle.
In 1843 it became compulsory for licensed drivers to wear a metal badge showing their licence number, which they still do to this day.
The taximeter was introduced in 1906 and was made compulsory in London from July 1907. The taximeter was a German invention, first used in Berlin but soon adopted worldwide.
http://www.lvta.co.uk/pictures/unic.jpg
http://www.lvta.co.uk/pictures/BLM942.jpg
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