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11 1933

ROAD TRAFFIC ACT, 1933

PART VIII.

Special Provisions for Street Service Vehicles.

Definition of use as a street service vehicle.

131. —For the purposes of this Part of this Act a small public service vehicle shall be deemed to be used as a street service vehicle if and whenever—

(a) such vehicle and the driver thereof is hired in a public place for the carriage of passengers for reward on the terms that such hiring is to commence immediately, or

(b) the driver of such vehicle offers in a public place himself and such vehicle for immediate hire for the carriage of passengers for reward, or

(c) the driver of such vehicle stands or drives such vehicle in a public place for the purpose of being immediately hired with such vehicle to carry passengers for reward, or

(d) such vehicle is used for the carriage of passengers for reward in pursuance of a contract of hiring made in a public place with the driver of such vehicle for the immediate hire of such driver and such vehicle for the carriage of such passengers.

Taximeter areas.

132. —(1) In this Part of this Act the expression “taximeter area.” means an area which is for the time being declared by an order made under this section to be a taximeter area for the purpose of this Part of this Act.

(2) The Minister may at any time by order made after consultation with the Minister for Justice declare that any specified area shall be a taximeter area as from the date of such order or any later date specified in such order.

(3) The Minister may at any time by order made after consultation with the Minister for Justice revoke or amend any order previously made by him under this section (including this sub-section).

Restriction on use of private hire vehicles.

133. —(1) It shall not be lawful for a licensed small public service vehicle, the public service vehicle licence in respect of which is limited to use as a private hire vehicle, to be used as a street service vehicle in any fare bye-law area.

(2) Whenever a small public service vehicle is used as a street service vehicle in contravention of this section, the owner of such vehicle shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds.

Taximeters on street service vehicles.

134. —(1) It shall not be lawful to use as a street service vehicle in a taximeter area any mechanically propelled vehicle which is not a licensed small public service vehicle or which is not fitted in the prescribed manner with a taximeter complying with this Part of this Act and in good order, repair, and condition.

(2) Whenever a mechanically propelled vehicle is used as a street service vehicle in contravention of this section the owner of such vehicle and also the driver of such vehicle shall each be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding ten pounds.

(3) Nothing in this section shall operate to render it unlawful to use for the carriage of passengers for reward in a taximeter area a licensed small public service vehicle which is not fitted with a taximeter where the contract for such carriage of such passengers was not made in a taximeter area.

Illumination of taximeters at night.

135. —(1) It shall not be lawful for a small public service vehicle which is fitted with a taximeter to be used as a street service vehicle during lighting-up hours unless—

(a) there is fitted to such vehicle a lamp so situated as to illuminate when lit the dial of the taximeter fitted to such vehicle, and

(b) such lamp is lit and in efficient condition.

(2) Whenever a small public service vehicle is used as a street service vehicle in contravention of this section the owner of such vehicle and also the driver thereof shall each be guilty of an offence under this section and shall on summary conviction thereof be liable to a fine not exceeding two pounds.

Annual inspection and verification of taximeters.

136. —(1) The definition of “measuring instrument” contained in section 35 of the Weights and Measures Act, 1889, as extended by section 10 of the Weights and Measures Act, 1928 (No. 3 of 1928), shall be and is hereby extended so as to include a taximeter, and the said section 35 shall have effect accordingly.

(2) The powers and duties of inspectors of weights and measures appointed by the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Burgesses of Dublin or by the Corporation of Dun Laoghaire shall not extend to or include the inspection, testing, verification, or stamping of taximeters.

(3) The Commissioner may from time to time appoint so many members of the Gárda Síochána to be inspectors of measuring instruments (in this section referred to as special inspectors) for the purposes of the inspection, verification and stamping of taximeters as he may think necessary and the Minister for Finance shall sanction, and the following provisions shall have effect in relation to such special inspectors, that is to say:—

(a) the Commissioner may suspend or dismiss any special inspector from his office as special inspector;

(b) no member of the Gárda Síochána shall be appointed to be a special inspector unless he possesses either a certificate under section 8 of the Weights and Measures Act, 1904, or a special inspector's certificate granted in accordance with regulations made by the Minister for Industry and Commerce under this section;

(c) an ex-officio inspector of weights and measures may be appointed to be a special inspector and when so appointed may, if the Commissioner so directs, continue to be an ex-officio inspector of weights and measures;

(d) every special inspector shall, in relation to the inspection, verification and stamping of taximeters, have all the powers and perform all the duties conferred or imposed on an inspector or an ex-officio inspector of weights and measures by the Weights and Measures Acts, 1878 to 1928, but without any restriction as to the area or district in which such powers may be exercised or such duties are to be performed by such special inspector;

(e) references in the Weights and Measures Acts, 1878 to 1928, to an inspector or an ex-officio inspector of weights and measures shall, in relation to the inspection, verification and stamping of taximeters, be construed as including references to a special inspector, and the said Acts shall have effect accordingly;

(f) the Commissioner shall provide every special inspector with such standards and equipment as are necessary for the performance by him of his duties as such special inspector;

(g) there shall be paid in respect of the verification and stamping of taximeters by special inspectors such fees as may be appointed by regulations made under this section by the Minister for Industry and Commerce with the consent of the Minister for Finance, and every such fee shall be payable by the person appointed in that behalf by the said regulations;

(h) all fees payable under this section in respect of the verification and stamping of taximeters by special inspectors shall be paid to the Commissioner and disposed of by him in accordance with this Act, save that such proportion (if any) of such fees as the Minister for Finance shall direct shall be paid into the Gárda Síochána Reward Fund.

(4) In addition to the powers conferred by section 8 of the Weights and Measures Act, 1889, as extended by section 6 of the Weights and Measures Act, 1904, the Minister for Industry and Commerce shall be entitled to charge on the comparison and verification of the standards and equipment provided by the Commissioner under this section such fees as he may, after consultation with the Minister and with the approval of the Minister for Finance, appoint.

(5) The power of making general regulations vested in the Minister for Industry and Commerce by virtue of section 5 of the Weights and Measures Act, 1904, shall include power to make, after consultation with the Minister, general regulations with respect to the provision and maintenance of standards and equipment by the Commissioner under this section and the verification of such standards and equipment and with respect to the guidance of special inspectors in the execution and performance of their duties under this section, and the said section 5 shall be construed and have effect accordingly.

(6) This section shall be construed as one with the Weights and Measures Acts, 1878 to 1928, and those Acts and this section may be cited together as the Weights and Measures Acts, 1878 to 1933.

Bye-laws in relation to standings for street service vehicles.

137. —(1) The Commissioner may with the consent of the Minister and after consultation with the local authority concerned make bye-laws in respect of any specified area for all or any of the following purposes, that is to say:—

(a) appointing the places (in this Act referred to as appointed standings) in such area at which street service vehicles may stand for hire;

(b) fixing the maximum number of street service vehicles which may stand for hire at any one time on any particular appointed standing;

(c) prohibiting street service vehicles from standing for hire at places in such area which are not appointed standings;

(d) regulating and controlling the use of appointed standings by street service vehicles.

(2) Every driver of a street service vehicle who does any act, whether of commission or omission, which is a contravention of a bye-law made under this section and for the time being in force shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall on summary conviction thereof be liable to a fine not exceeding two pounds.

Colours of street service vehicles and uniforms of drivers.

138. —(1) The Commissioner may, with the consent of the Minister and after consultation with the local authority concerned, make bye-laws in respect of any specified fare bye-law area for all or any of the following purposes, that is to say:—

(a) requiring every small public service vehicle used as a street service vehicle in such area to be painted or otherwise coloured in whole or to a specified extent a specified colour or combination of colours;

(b) requiring every such vehicle to be marked in a specified place or manner with a specified distinctive number, word, letter, or other mark;

(c) requiring every driver of any such vehicle to wear a cap or hat, coat, and other articles of clothing of a specified uniform pattern and colour;

(d) prohibiting the use (otherwise than as a street service vehicle) in such area of any mechanically propelled vehicle which is painted or otherwise coloured in the manner appointed by bye-laws made under this section for street service vehicles in such area or in a manner so closely resembling the manner so appointed as to be calculated to deceive;

(e) prohibiting the wearing in such area by any person (other than the driver of a street service vehicle) of any article of clothing of a pattern and colour appointed by bye-laws made under this section for the uniform of the drivers of street service vehicles or of a pattern or colour and so closely resembling the pattern and colour so appointed as to be calculated to deceive.

(2) Whenever any vehicle is used in contravention of a bye-law made under this section the owner of such vehicle shall be guilty of an offence under this sub-section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding five pounds.

(3) Every person who omits to wear any article of clothing which he is required by a bye-law made under this section to wear or who wears any article of clothing the wearing of which by him is a contravention of any such bye-law shall be guilty of an offence under this sub-section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding two pounds.

Fare bye-laws.

139. —(1) The Commissioner may, with the consent of the Minister and after consultation with the local authority concerned, make bye-laws (in this Act referred to as fare bye-laws), fixing the fares which may lawfully be charged for the hire of and for services performed by street service vehicles hired in any specified area and different such bye-laws may be so made in respect of different specified areas but every such specified area shall either be co-extensive with a taximeter area or shall not include any taximeter area or any part of a taximeter area.

(2) Different fares may be fixed by fare bye-laws in respect of different classes of street service vehicles.

(3) In this Part of this Act—

the expression “lawful fare” means the fare fixed by fare bye-laws for the service and in the area in relation to which the expression is used, and the expression “fare bye-law area” means an area in respect of which fare bye-laws are for the time being in force.

Exhibiting notices of fare bye-laws in street service vehicles.

140. —(1) It shall not be lawful for a small public service vehicle to be used as a street service vehicle in a fare bye-law area unless there is exhibited in such vehicle in such place and manner as shall be directed by the fare bye-law in force in such place a notice in such form and of such material as shall be directed by such fare bye-laws stating the fares fixed by such fare bye-laws in respect of such vehicle.

(2) Whenever a mechanically propelled vehicle is used in contravention of this section the owner of such vehicle shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall on summary conviction thereof be liable to a fine not exceeding two pounds,

Prohibition of excessive fares.

141. —(1) Save as may be authorised by fare bye-laws, it shall not be lawful for the driver of a street service vehicle which is fitted with a taximeter to charge or demand for services rendered by him with such vehicle any greater sum than the lawful fare as shown by such taximeter.

(2) It shall not be lawful for the driver of a street service vehicle to charge or demand for services rendered by him with such vehicle in a fare bye-law area any greater sum than the lawful fare for such services.

(3) Every driver of a street service vehicle who charges or demands any sum in contravention of this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall on summary conviction thereof be liable to a fine not exceeding two pounds.

Restriction on use of the word “taxi.

142. —(1) It shall not be lawful for any person in any written statement, advertisement, or other notice published by him (including notices affixed to or displayed in his own premises or vehicles) to use, as a description of or otherwise in relation to a vehicle which is not a street service vehicle fitted with a taximeter, the word “taxi” or any other word or expression reasonably calculated to suggest that such vehicle is a street service vehicle or is fitted with a taximeter.

(2) Every person who uses any word or expression in contravention of this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding five pounds together with, in the case of a continuing offence, to a further fine not exceeding one pound for every day during which the offence is continued.

Duty of street service vehicle driver to hirer.

143. —(1) Whenever a street service vehicle is lawfully hired it shall be the duty of the driver of such vehicle while such hiring continues to do the following things, that is to say:—

(a) to drive such vehicle with such passengers and personal luggage and to such place as the hirer shall lawfully and reasonably direct; and

(b) while so driving to proceed at a reasonable speed and by such route as the hirer shall lawfully direct or where no such direction is given, by the most expeditious route; and

(c) to wait with such vehicle at such places and for such times as the hirer shall lawfully direct.

(2) If the driver of a street service vehicle which is lawfully hired does any act (whether of commission or omission) which is a contravention of his duty under this section he shall, save as is otherwise provided by this Act, be guilty of an offence under this section and shall on summary conviction thereof be liable to a fine not exceeding two pounds.

Obligation of street service vehicle driver to accept hire.

144. —(1) Whenever any person (in this section referred to as the intending hirer) requests the driver of a street service vehicle then standing for hire in a fare bye-law area to drive him in such vehicle to a specified place within such area and tenders to such driver the lawful fare for such service it shall be the duty of such driver to comply with such request and if he fails or refuses so to do he shall, unless he has a reasonable excuse for such failure or refusal, be found guilty of an offence under this section and shall on summary conviction thereof be liable to a fine not exceeding two pounds.

(2) For the purpose of this section—

(a) a street service vehicle which has been hired by any person shall not, while such hiring continues, be deemed to be standing for hire, and

(b) proof that a mechanically propelled vehicle had affixed thereto a vehicle plate, and (if in a taximeter area) was fitted with a taximeter, and (in any case) was not occupied by any person other than the driver thereof, and was stationary in a public place in a fare bye-law area shall be evidence, until the contrary is proved, that such vehicle was standing for hire.

(3) Whenever the driver of a street service vehicle is charged with an offence under this section and the intending hirer in relation to whom such offence is alleged to have been committed does not appear at the hearing in court of such charge or the court is satisfied that such driver at the time when such offence was alleged to have been committed had been hired by another person and such hiring had not terminated or that such driver had a reasonable excuse for the failure or refusal which constituted such alleged offence and that such driver civilly informed such intending hirer of such previous hiring or of such excuse (as the case may be), the court may order such intending hirer to pay the costs of the proceedings and also to pay to such driver such reasonable sum as the court shall specify as compensation for his loss of time in attending in court at the hearing.

Rights of street service vehicle driver against hirer.

145. —(1) Whenever the driver of a street service vehicle which has been lawfully hired in a fare bye-law area is lawfully directed by the hirer at any time during such hiring to drive such vehicle to a place in such area, it shall be lawful for such driver to demand and receive from the hirer either (at the option of such driver) the lawful fare for the services theretofore rendered by such driver during such hiring or the lawful fare for such services together with the lawful fare for driving to the said place from the place at which such direction is given.

(2) Whenever the driver of a street service vehicle which has been lawfully hired in a fare bye-law area is lawfully directed by the hirer to wait with such vehicle at a place in such area, it shall be lawful for such driver to inquire from and be informed by the hirer the length of time during which he is so to wait and also to demand and receive from the hirer either (at the option of such driver) the lawful fare for the services theretofore rendered by such driver during such hiring or the lawful fare for such services together with the lawful fare for waiting for the said length of time.

(3) Whenever the hirer of a street service vehicle fails or refuses to pay to the driver of such vehicle a lawful fare lawfully demanded of him under this section by such driver it shall be lawful for such driver to refuse to comply with the direction the giving of which occasioned such demand and to terminate the hiring of such vehicle.

Application of payments for prospective services.

146. —(1) Whenever the driver of a street service vehicle receives under this Part of this Act from the hirer of such vehicle a payment in respect of services which at the time of such payment have not been rendered the following provisions shall have effect, that is to say:—

(a) it shall be the duty of such driver to perform such services forthwith unless he is directed to the contrary by the hirer or is prevented by some sufficient cause;

(b) the said payment shall be a deposit in the hands of such driver and shall, if and when the said services are fully performed, be retained by such driver as payment on account of such services;

(c) if such hiring is terminated by the hirer before such services are fully performed it shall be the duty of such driver to retain so much of such payment as is the lawful fare for so much of such services as he has performed and to repay the balance of such payment to the hirer.

(2) Whenever the driver of a street service vehicle does any act (whether of commission or omission) which is a contravention of his duty under this section he shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall on summary conviction thereof be liable to a fine not exceeding two pounds.