The Facts behind this legislation

1. We feel the implementation of the new law does not serve a major purpose toward improvement of the safety of the limousine industry as the limousines had no fatality record registered since the records began in 1993. Also the type of vehicles that is used for making super stretch limousines describes the quality of built, for instance Hummer limos are in danger of vanishing all together from the roads in the UK because of the COIF certificate, while we know Hummers are military grade vehicles and the limo coach builders in the United State of America, are already building these vehicles under careful inspections of the authorities in the USA, these limos must pass multiple quality assurance and fitness tests and achieve number of certificates before being released on the road in the USA. As far as we know all the Hummers in the UK were originally built in the USA, and the custom will check number of these certificates before the limos are imported to the UK. On the other hand the same vehicle has been running on the roads in this country for over a decade with no fatality for limo passengers, all of a sudden the table turns and these vehicles can be illegal to run from 1st of Oct 2009.

2. The damage is not only to the limo industry however many venues, restaurants, night clubs and tourist related businesses will suffer. Limos are one of the attractions in the UK, many tourist book their limos for tours and transportation in London months in advance before their arrival. Nightclubs and many other venues also have incorporated deals with limo operators to benefit both parties from flow of customers that originates from limo reservations.

3. Limos have significantly reduced the risk of accidents from drink driving. Collecting 1000’s of passengers every Friday and Saturday night from the nightclubs and dropping them off safe to their home addresses. Only this good practice can target wider market when the passengers share the cost of the limos between each other. Many times the customers have admitted hiring a Hummer or Lincoln Navigator for 16 passengers can save them money if they wanted to hire black cabs individually. Finally the psychology of target market determines that limos cannot be replaced by other means of public transport.

4. We believe the law must be dynamic and justify the real needs for its existence. Today after 15 years of operation there are enough limos to deserve more attention from the law makers, perhaps a dedicated section or governing body. Currently limos are considered as public transport and must apply to all the regulations that apply to coaches, buses, mini buses and taxis. The truth is although they may hold a common ground in respective of transportation law, the true nature of this business is so different. Unfortunately this difference has been ignored by our law makers, and this industry is falling because of the forces of one single certificate which is not truly applicable for this matter.