As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
DRIVER
Any person who drives a regulated vehicle.
OPERATOR
Any person, corporation, partnership or association who operates
any regulated vehicle.
OWNER
Any person, corporation, partnership or association in whose
name any regulated vehicle is registered with the New Jersey Motor
Vehicles Commission.
REGULATED VEHICLE
Any automobile or motor car, commonly called a "taxicab,"
engaged in the business of carrying passengers for hire which is held
out, announced or advertised to operate or run or which is operated
or run over any of the streets or public highways of this state and
particularly accepts and discharges such persons as may offer themselves
for transportation from points or places to points or places within
or without the state.
No person shall drive, keep or use for hire or cause to be driven,
kept or used for hire, any regulated vehicle within the Township of
Washington unless the vehicle and the driver thereof are licensed
according to the provisions of this article.
A. License fees. Every applicant for a license for a regulated vehicle
shall pay to the Township, a license fee as follows:
(1) For each regulated vehicle: $50.
(2) For each driver license issued to a driver of a regulated vehicle:
$20.
(3) For any replacement of a lost license or for a revised license: $25.
B. Term of license. All licenses shall be valid from the day of issuance and shall expire on December 31 thereafter. For any license issued on or after September 1, the fee shall be one-half of the fee set forth in §
185-2A.
The Township employee designated by the Township Committee may
inspect all licensed vehicles and report thereon to the Township Committee.
The Township Committee may suspend the license of any licensed vehicle
deemed to be insecure or unsanitary until such time as the vehicle
shall be made safe and sanitary to the satisfaction of the Committee,
it being provided that the owner thereof may demand and obtain a hearing
at any meeting of the Committee, and also the reinspection of the
vehicle by the Township employee designated by the Township Committee
at any time after 24 hours from the time of suspension.
Every driver of the licensed vehicle shall have the right to demand payment of the legal fare in advance and may refuse employment unless it be prepaid, but no driver shall otherwise refuse or neglect to convey any orderly person or persons upon request as designated by this article, to any place in the Township, nor extort or demand any sum for so doing, other than the fare displayed in the vehicle pursuant to §
185-3F(2), provided that licensed vehicles answering calls or at the time actually engaged in commuting service shall not be deemed to violate this section on refusing other passengers.
Every owner shall maintain a dispatch service in the Township
Monday through Friday between the hours of 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.,
and on Saturday from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. However, this shall not
be construed as restricting the owner from operating additional hours
each day.
Except as required by N.J.S.A. 48:16-1, and in addition to the penalty set forth in §
185-5, any owner, operator and/or driver who shall operate or drive a regulated vehicle in any street in the Township of Washington without complying with the provisions of this chapter and with the provisions of N.J.S.A. 48:16-1 et seq. shall, upon conviction thereof, be guilty of a misdemeanor and be subject to one or more of the following: a fine not exceeding $2,000, a term of imprisonment not exceeding 90 days or a period of community service not exceeding 90 days.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
LIMOUSINE
Any automobile or motor car used in the business of carrying
passengers for hire to provide prearranged passenger transportation
at a premium fare on a dedicated, nonscheduled, charter basis that
is not conducted on a regular route and with a seating capacity of
no more than 14 passengers, not including the driver, provided that
such a vehicle is certified by the manufacturer of the original vehicle
and the second-stage manufacturer, if applicable, to conform to all
applicable Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards promulgated by the
United States Department of Transportation pursuant to 49 CFR Part
571 (49 CFR 571.1 et seq.) and 49 CFR Part 567 (49 CFR 567.1 et seq.).
In addition, a "Vehicle Emission Control Information" label, which
contains the name and trademark of the manufacturer and an unconditional
statement of compliance with the emission requirements of the Environmental
Protection Agency, shall be present on the vehicle. Nothing in this
article contained shall be construed to include taxicabs, hotel buses,
buses employed solely in transporting school children or teachers,
vehicles owned and operated directly or indirectly by businesses engaged
in the practice of mortuary science when those vehicles are used exclusively
for providing transportation related to the provision of funeral services,
autobuses which are subject to the jurisdiction of the Department
of Transportation, or interstate autobuses required by federal or
state law or regulations of the Department of Transportation to carry
insurance against loss from liability imposed by law on account of
bodily injury or death.
PERSON
Any individual, copartnership, association, corporation or
joint-stock company, their lessees, trustees or receivers appointed
by any court whatsoever.
PRINCIPAL PLACE OF BUSINESS
The location of the main place of business of the limousine
service in the Township of Washington where limousine service is conducted,
where limousines are dispatched, or where limousine drivers report
for duty.
STREET
Any street, avenue, park, parkway, highway, or other public
place.
Except for limousines registered in other states pursuant to
N.J.S.A. 48:16-22.4, no limousine shall be operated wholly or partly
along any street in the Township of Washington until the owner of
the limousine shall have filed with the clerk of the municipality
in which the owner has his, her or its principal place of business
an insurance policy of a company duly licensed to transact business
under the insurance laws of New Jersey in the sum of $1,500,000 against
loss by reason of the liability imposed by law upon every limousine
owner for damages on account of bodily injury or death suffered by
any person as a result of any accident occurring by reason of the
ownership, maintenance or use of the limousine upon any public street.
Such operation shall be permitted only so long as the insurance policy
shall remain in force to the full and collectible amount of $1,500,000.
The insurance policy shall provide for the payment of any final judgment
recovered by any person on account of the ownership, maintenance and
use of such limousine or any fault in respect thereto, and shall be
for the benefit of every person suffering loss, damage, injury aforesaid.
Upon the filing of the required insurance policy by an owner
having its principal place of business in the Township of Washington
of a limousine service, the Township Clerk, upon the payment of the
maximum fee allowed under N.J.S.A. 48:16-17, as may be amended from
time to time, and currently $50 for the first vehicle and $10 for
each subsequent vehicle, shall issue in duplicate a license to operate
showing that the owner of the limousine has complied with the terms
and provisions of N.J.S.A. 48:16-13 et seq. The license shall recite
the name of the insurance company, the number and date of expiration
of the policy, a description of every limousine insured thereunder,
and the registration number of the same. The duplicate license shall
be filed with the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission before any such
car is registered as a limousine. The original license or a copy thereof
shall be retained within the limousine and shall be available for
inspection by any law enforcement officer in the state. In addition
to the recital of insurance information required on the license pursuant
to this section, the owner of a limousine shall attach to the original
license or copy thereof retained within the limousine a notarized
letter from an insurance company containing the same insurance information
required in the recital and the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN)
or a notarized certificate of insurance for the particular limousine
showing the VIN as well as the limits of insurance coverage, and available
insurance card, which shall constitute proof of insurance coverage,
and which shall also be available for inspection by any law enforcement
officer in the State.
Notwithstanding any other provisions of law to the contrary,
the Township of Washington requires a limousine service to obtain
a corporate license, permit, certificate or other form of authority
if the limousine service is providing service on an intramunicipal
point-to-point basis within the Township of Washington. The fee for
the issuance of this license is $50 (which is in addition to any other
fee), which applies to all limousines operated by a limousine service
providing such intramunicipal point-to-point service within the Township
of Washington.
No limousine shall be operated on the streets in the Township
of Washington unless it has a license issued pursuant to N.J.S.A.
48:16-17 and the limousine is equipped in accordance with the minimum
standards established by the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission and
the Department of Transportation with:
A. A two-way communication system, which, at a minimum shall provide
for communication to a person outside the vehicle for a distance of
not less than 100 miles and which requirement may be satisfied by
a mobile telephone;
B. A removable first aid kit and operable fire extinguisher, which shall
be placed in an accessible place within the vehicle;
C. Sideboards attached to the permanent body construction of the vehicle
if the height of the vehicle floor is 10 inches or more above ground
level.
Any owner, operator or driver shall comply with N.J.S.A. 48:16-13
et seq., including but not limited to N.J.S.A. 48:16-22.3a, and any
regulation enacted thereto. Proof of compliance for each owner, operator
or driver shall be provided to the Township with each application
for a limousine license, including renewal applications, by providing
copies of the chauffeur driver endorsement for each owner, operator
and driver.
Prior to the operation of a limousine in the Township of Washington
for the purpose of picking up passengers, the driver of the limousine
shall conduct a general examination of the condition of the vehicle
in accordance with N.J.S.A 48:16-22.2.a.
In addition to the penalty set forth in §
185-19, any person who shall operate a limousine service in any street in the Township of Washington without complying with the provisions of this chapter and with the provisions of N.J.S.A. 48:16-13 et seq. shall, upon conviction thereof, be subject to the fines and penalties set forth in N.J.S.A 39:5G-1(a) and -2.