As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
BOROUGH The Borough of Glassboro, County of Gloucester, and State of New Jersey.
DRIVER Any person who drives a taxicab within this Borough.
OPERATION The operation of a taxicab, which shall require a taxicab owner's license and a taxicab driver's license, shall consist of transporting in such taxicab at least one but not more than five persons, exclusive of the driver, for hire on any of the streets in this Borough and accepting a passenger to be transported for hire within this Borough or from a point within this Borough to a point outside of the Borough limits. The operation of a taxicab as above described by one other than the owner shall be deemed operation by the owner thereof as well as by the person actually driving same. The transportation of any person other than owner or driver in a taxicab is hereinafter defined shall be prima facie evidence of operation.
OWNER Any person in whose name title to any taxicab is registered with the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission or who appears in such record to be the conditional vendee or license thereof.
STREET Includes any street, avenue, park, parkway, local, county, state, or federal highway or other public roadway located within the Borough, whether or not the same is an improved road.
TAXICAB Any automobile capable of carrying up to five passengers, exclusive of the driver, and which may commonly be referred to as a "taxi" or "cab," duly licensed by the Borough and engaged in the business of carrying passengers for hire, which is held out, announced or advertised to operate or run or which is operated and run over any of the streets within the Borough of Glassboro and which accepts passengers for transportation from points and places within the Borough to points and places within or without the same Borough; provided, however, that nothing herein contained shall include autobuses or buses on designated routes, public deliveries or jitneys or such public conveyances as are by law exclusively subject to state and/or federal regulation.
There are hereby established two classes of taxicab licenses to be known "taxicab owner's license" and "taxicab driver's license."
A. Taxicab owner's license. A taxicab owner's license shall entitle a taxicab therein described to pick up passengers within the Borough and otherwise to be lawfully operated anywhere within the Borough by a driver duly licensed hereunder and by the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission until said license either expires or is surrendered, suspended, or revoked.
B. Taxicab driver's license. A taxicab driver's license shall entitle the person named therein to operate within this Borough any taxicab duly licensed hereunder and by the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission until said license either expires or is surrendered, suspended, or revoked.
Each applicant for a taxicab driver's license and/or taxicab owner's license shall be required to pay the Borough, with the application, whatever sum of money is charged by the State of New Jersey to process a name check for any criminal record plus any local charges. No application for a taxicab driver's license or taxicab owner's license shall be approved until such time as the applicant has executed a form of consent and release as to permit the Borough of Glassboro Police Department to conduct such an investigation as may be required in order to determine that the applicant substantially complies with the meaning, intent, and purpose of this chapter.
No taxicab owner's or driver's license shall be issued until the applicant therefor shall have delivered to the Municipal Clerk, concurrently with the filing of the application and insurance policy referred to herein, a power of attorney executed by said applicant wherein and whereby the applicant shall appoint the Municipal Clerk for the Borough as his or her, true and lawful attorney for the purpose of acknowledging service of any process out of court of competent jurisdiction to be served against the insured by virtue of the indemnity granted under the insurance policy filed.
The Borough Council or its designees may, in its discretion, refuse to issue or renew or may, after notice and hearing, revoke or suspend any license issued under the provisions of this chapter if the applicant:
A. Has been convicted of any crime, disorderly persons offense or petty disorderly persons offense in this state or in any other state or territory;
B. Has been convicted of a violation under Title 39, Motor Vehicles and Traffic, regulations of the Revised Statutes of New Jersey;
C. Violates any provisions of this chapter;
D. Has any judgment unsatisfied of record arising out of an automobile accident;
E. Has made false answers on the application for such license or any renewal thereof;
F. Has failed or fails to render reasonably prompt, safe and adequate taxi service;
G. Has not complied fully with all requirements of this chapter for such class of licensure;
H. If the licensee or applicant has in any degree contributed to any injury to person or damage to property arising out of negligent operation of a motor vehicle;
I. As to any taxicab owner's license if the motor vehicle licensed or to be licensed is dangerous to the safety or health of the occupants, and others by reason of unsafe or unsanitary conditions;
J. If the policy of insurance required herein has once lapsed or such coverage is not maintained at all times;
K. If a taxicab, at any time, carries more passengers than the same is authorized to carry by terms of this chapter.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
A. No taxicab license shall be issued to or renewed for any taxicab unless and until proof shall have been given to the Municipal Clerk or his or her designee that such taxicab has adequately provided for the safety of children under the age of eight years who are passengers in a taxicab operated by them. In the case of taxicabs, such proof shall consist of a posted notice in all taxicabs, conspicuous to the drivers, setting forth that, prior to the operation of the taxicab, children must be secured in compliance with Subsection
C below. A taxicab must at all times keep and maintain in the vehicle a federally approved car seat which shall, at all times, be available for use by drivers of the taxicabs.
B. Every person operating a taxicab, whether owner and/or driver, who is transporting a child under the age of five years on roadways, streets or highways of the Borough shall be responsible for the protection of the child by properly using a child-restraint system that complies with the federal vehicle safety standards.
C. No driver shall operate a taxicab in which a child of 12 years of age or younger is a passenger unless:
(1) A child under the age of two years and weighing less than 30 pounds shall be secured in a rear-facing child passenger restraint system, which is equipped with a five-point harness.
(2) A child under the age of four years and weighing less than 40 pounds shall be secured:
(a) In a rear-facing child passenger restraint system, which is equipped with a five-point harness, until the child outgrows the top height or top weight recommendations made by the manufacturer of the child passenger restraint system, at which point the child shall be secured in a rear seat, in a forward-facing child passenger restraint system which is equipped with a five-point harness; or
(b) In a forward-facing child passenger restraint system which is equipped with a five-point harness.
(3) A child under the age of eight years and less than 57 inches in height shall be secured:
(a) In a forward-facing child passenger restraint system which is equipped with a five-point harness, until the child outgrows the top height or top weight recommendations made by the manufacturer of the child passenger restraint system, at which point the child shall be secured in a rear seat, in a booster seat; or
(4) If there are no rear seats, the child shall be secured in a child passenger restraint system or booster seat in a front seat of a motor vehicle, except that no child shall be secured in a rear-facing child passenger restraint system in a front seat of any motor vehicle which is equipped with a passenger-side airbag that is not disabled or turned off.
(5) In no event shall failure to be secured in a child passenger restraint system or booster seat be considered as contributory negligence, nor shall the failure to be secured in the child passenger restraint system or booster seat be admissible as evidence in the trial of any civil action.
Drivers of taxicabs shall not receive or discharge passengers in the roadways, but shall pull up to the right-hand sidewalk as near as possible or, in the absence of a sidewalk to the extreme right-hand side of the road and there receive or discharge passengers, except on one-way streets where passengers may be received or discharged on either the right- or left-hand sidewalk or side of the roadway in the absence of a sidewalk.
The owner and operator of each taxicab operating in the Borough shall keep the taxicab in good running order so that it makes a presentable appearance and affords comfortable and safe rides to passengers and remains free from mechanical defects which would affect the safety of the passengers. The owner of each taxicab shall have each taxicab presented to the Chief of Police or other designated police officer prior to the issuance or renewal of the taxicab owner's license and thereafter upon the request of the Chief of Police or other police officer so that it may be inspected to determine whether it compiles with the provisions of this chapter.
No owner or driver of any taxicab shall induce any person to employ him or her by knowingly misinforming or misleading any such person as to time and place of departure of any airplane or other regularly scheduled mode of transportation or as to the location of any hotel, motel, public place or private residence within this Borough, nor shall any such owner or driver deceive any person or make false representations to any person or convey any passenger to any other place or over any street other than to which the passenger may have instructed the driver to go. Every owner and driver shall be responsible to see to it that all passengers are carried in a safe manner and by using a reasonable and direct route from point of origin to point of destination. No taxicab shall, at any time, carry more than the vehicle is designed to or is licensed for, but in no event shall any one taxicab carry more than five passengers, excluding the driver.
In the event that a taxicab is being operated by a party who does not have a taxicab driver's license, as defined in this chapter, both the driver and the owner of the taxicab shall be subject to the penalty provisions set forth in §
425-17.1 of this chapter.
No taxicab owner's license or taxicab driver's license shall be required for the following:
A. Transporting a passenger(s) pursuant to the definitions section of this chapter from a point outside of the Borough limits to a point inside the Borough limits wherein the passenger(s) is/are discharged.
B. Transporting a passenger(s) pursuant to the definitions section of this chapter from a point outside the Borough limits to a point inside the Borough limits wherein the passenger(s) is/are discharged and the taxicab waits for the passengers to reboard for a return trip to another location if the passengers agree to allow the taxicab driver to continue to run the taxicab meter during all stops within the Borough.
C. Transporting a passenger(s) pursuant to the definitions section of this chapter from a point outside of the Borough limits to a point inside the Borough limits wherein the passenger(s) has/have agreed to a flat fee for all services rendered by the taxicab driver before entering the Borough limits.
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to exempt any person, firm, or corporation owning or operating a taxicab from complying with the laws relating to the ownership, regulation and operation of automobiles in the State of New Jersey.