Motorcab Topics.
Page 12
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It is intended that the Oxford cabs of the Provincial Motorcab Co., shall be stationed at Brighton during Goodwood week.
A Registration.
L. C. E. King and Co., Ltd., with a capital of £2,00, to carry on the business of taxicab proprietors, etc., and to adopt an agreement with L. C. E. King. The registered office is at Sussex Garage, Sussex Street, Southsea.
A Taxi-Victoria.
We reproduce on this page a photograph of the interesting new type of public-service vehicle which has been introduced by the Gamage-Bell Motor Cab Co., and to which we made brief reference in a recent issue. We understand that this first machine has been licensed by the P.C.O. to carry two passengers only ; the taximeter does not register extras.
Anywhere on the Rank.
Sir Vansittart Bowater, at the Guildhall recently, told a taxicab driver, whom he fined £4 or a month's imprisonment, for assaulting another driver, that many taxi drivers were wrongfully under the impression that would-be passengers must take the first cab on a rank ; whereas, he said, the sooner they learnt that passengers could get into any cab they chose, the better. Must Take Fares.
Certain complaints hay ing reached the Liverpool Town Clerk with reference to the refusal of local taxicab drivers to take fares except on the inducement of excessive remuneration, a reminder has been issued to licensed drivers that they are compelled to take any regular fare when they are plying for hire.
Hire-Fur hase.
. As the matter of the issuing of licences for motorcabs which have been acquired by their owners on the hire-purchase system is now attracting so much attention, it may be of interest to our readers to note that there is a total of nearly 500 " hire-purchase " motorcabs at present on the London streets. After a deposit of 2200 on a total purchase price of 2425, the monthly payment is, as a rule. £15. This charge includes the cost of the first year's insurance, the hiring of the taximeter, the Scotland Yard, L.C.C., and other fees.
The Commissioner has refused two more licences to owners of " hire-purchase " motorcabs on the score than he has " used his discretion fully" in the matter. It will be remembered that before Justices Darling. Bankes. and Lush a similar refusal was recently held to be unreasonable on the ground that the Commissioner had not satisfied himself as to the financial status of the applicant. The P,M.C. Manager.
With reference to the recent appointment of Mr. E. Alfred West as general manager of the Provincial Motor Cab Co.. Ltd., it is of interest to note that he first became interested in the cab trade in 1887. In 1892 he first became an owner of horsed cabs, and in 1902 he became manag4ig executor of the business of Philipps and Brickland, who owned 280 horsed cabs ; this company also owned and ran many horsed omnibuses in conjunction with the Atlas and Waterloo Omnibus Association. Mr. West was subsequently associated with the first fleet of Humber motorcabs, and he was recently a director of the B.A. Motor Cab Co.
Those Medical Certificates.
We reported in a recent issue the decision of the Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis that all drivers of mechanically-propelled vehicles must in future be provided with a medical certificate. Owners of motorcabs and other public-service motor vehicles have now received from the Commissioner a form of certificate in which a number of typical questions are scheduled for answer by the inspecting doctor. Enquiry is made as to the existence of a tendency towards epilepsy, vertigo or any mental ailment, heart or lung disease, defective vision or hearing. The inspecting medical officer is asked to say if the candidate is sufficiently active for the performance of his duties, and if he shows any evidence of being addicted to the use of alcohol, tobacco or drugs, and he has to state if. in his opinion, the would-be driver is generally fit "as regards (a) bodily health. and (b) temperament, for the duties of a public-carriage driver." No mention is made as to any age limit, but considerable anxiety is hound to be felt on this score by several of the older motorcsb drivers, whose age exceeds sixty. A protest meeting of 1.500 members of the various affected trades unions was held in the Euston Theatre last Sunday to consider the new medical-examination regulations for licensed public-service drivers. In the meantime, we understand that the Commissioner has agreed to susnend the operation of the regulation until he has received a men's deputation.