S.I. No. 569/2008 - Taxi Regulation Act 2003 (Permanent Feature Vehicle Size and Safety Equipment) Regulations 2008

S.I. No. 569 of 2008

TAXI REGULATION ACT 2003 (PERMANENT FEATURE VEHICLE SIZE AND SAFETY EQUIPMENT) REGULATIONS 2008

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of 30th December, 2008.

I, The Commission for Taxi Regulation, in exercise of the powers conferred on it by sections 34 and 39 of the Taxi Regulation Act 2003 (No. 25 of 2003), hereby makes the following regulations:

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Taxi Regulation Act 2003 (Permanent Feature Vehicle Size and Safety Equipment) Regulations 2008.

2. These Regulations shall come into operation on 1 January 2009.

3. In these Regulations—

“ANSI” means American National Standards Institute;

“BS” means British Standard;

“CEN” means Comité Européen de Normalisation;

“Commission” means the Commission for Taxi Regulation;

“ECE” means United Nations Economic Commission for Europe;

“EN” means European Norm;

“fire extinguisher” means a portable fire extinguisher in serviceable condition complying with EN3 and suitable for inflammability classes A, B and C, with a minimum capacity of 2 kilograms of dry powder or an equivalent capacity for any other suitable extinguishing agent;

“first aid kit” means a within date first aid kit complying with DIN (Deutsches Institut fr Normung) 13164 or a comparable travel kit recommended by the Health and Safety Authority;

“VDA method” means the method of luggage volume measurement of the German Association of the Automotive Industry, Verbund die Automobil Industrie.

Age of Vehicle

4. (1) On the date an application for a hackney or taxi licence is received by the Commission, the vehicle the subject of such an application shall be less than nine years of age from the date of first registration.

(2) For the purposes of this Regulation, “date of first registration” means the date on which the vehicle was first registered in whichever country the vehicle was first registered.

Licensing Requirements

5. A vehicle the subject of an application for a hackney or taxi licence shall comply with the fitness for purpose specifications relating to permanent feature vehicle size contained in the Schedule.

In-vehicle Safety Equipment

6. The driver of a small public service vehicle shall carry safely and securely within his or her vehicle—

(a) a first aid kit;

(b) in the luggage compartment, a fire extinguisher;

(c) a reflective advance warning triangle to standard ECE Regulation 27;

(d) a high visibility reflective safety vest to standard ANSI 107, BS EN 471 or CEN 471;

(e) a working handheld torch;

(f) a pen and paper.

Regulation 5.

SCHEDULE Permanent Feature Vehicle Size

GIVEN under the seal of the Commission for Taxi Regulation,

12 December 2008

KATHLEEN DOYLE,

Commissioner for Taxi Regulation.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.)

These Regulations provide that, from 1 January 2009, a vehicle the subject of a hackney or taxi licence application may not be older than nine years, calculated from the date the vehicle was first registered i.e. reckoned from the date on which it was registered in whichever country it was first registered.

They further provide that, to be eligible to apply for a hackney or taxi licence, a vehicle must comply with specified fitness for purpose specifications in relation to permanent features.

They also provide that the driver of a small public service vehicle must ensure that certain, specified safety equipment is carried in his or her vehicle.