[HISTORY: Adopted by Mayor and Council of
Borough of Atlantic Highlands 4-3-1925 by Ord. No. 184; amended in its entirety 6-22-1982 by Ord. No.
795. Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
The following words and phrases, and their derivatives
when used in this chapter, shall have the meanings hereafter ascribed
to them:
Any person who drives a taxicab within this Borough.
Shall consist of transporting in such taxicab one or more
persons for hire along any of the streets of this Borough. 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
or discharging a passenger transported for hire from a point outside
the Borough limits to a point within the Borough limits shall be deemed
to be "operation of a taxicab" within the Borough within the meaning
thereof. The "operation of a taxicab" in any of the above-described
methods by one other than the owner shall be deemed operation by the
owner thereof as well as by the person actually driving the same.
The transportation of any person other than the owner or driver in
any motor vehicle bearing the sign thereon or therein using the word
"taxi," "taxicab," "cab," "hack" or term word of similar connotation,
shall be prima facie evidence of operation.
Any person, corporation or association in whose name title
to any taxicab is registered with the New Jersey Department of Motor
Vehicles or who appears in such records to be the conditional vendee
or lessee thereof.
Includes any automobile or motor car, commonly called "taxi,"
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 of the Borough of Atlantic Highlands
and which accepts passengers in this Borough for transportation from
points or places to points or places within or without said Borough.
From and after the effective date of this chapter,
no person shall operate any taxicab within this Borough unless both
the taxicab and the driver thereof are licensed pursuant to this chapter
and conform to all the provisions thereof.
There are hereby established two classes of
taxicab licenses, to be known as "taxicab driver's license" and "taxicab
owner's license," respectively.
A taxicab driver's license shall entitle the
person named therein to operate within this Borough any taxicab duly
licensed hereunder until said license either expires or is surrendered,
suspended or revoked and shall not be transferable.
A.
A taxicab owner's license shall entitle the company,
corporation or partnership which owns and operates said taxicabs in
this Borough to operate all of its cabs in the Borough on a continuous
twenty-four-hour basis, provided that all of the other sections of
this chapter are complied with or until said license shall either
expire or is surrendered, suspended or revoked, and such license shall
not be transferable. Said license shall be displayed in the taxicab
in a manner so as to be clearly visible to any passenger riding in
said taxicab.
B.
Every holder of a taxicab license in the Borough shall
have a telephone listing published in the county telephone directory
and shall be available for hire by the residents of the Borough during
the effective term of said license.
Every license issued pursuant to the terms of
this chapter shall expire at 12:00 midnight of the 31st of January
of the next year succeeding in which it was issued, unless sooner
surrendered, suspended or revoked.
A.
Every applicant for a driver's license shall, in addition
to the requirements herein provided and of any law of this state,
prove to the satisfaction of the Mayor and Council that:
(1)
He is over the age of 18 years.
(2)
He is in good health, with good eyesight.
(3)
He is not addicted to the use of intoxicating liquors
or drugs.
(4)
He is able to read and write the English language.
(5)
He is of good character.
(6)
He has not been convicted of an indictable offense
or of reckless driving within two years next preceding the filing
of such application.
(7)
He has knowledge of the state motor vehicle laws and
traffic regulations.
(8)
He has knowledge of the ordinances and geography of
the Borough of Atlantic Highlands.
B.
He shall furnish with the application for such driver's
license a recent photograph of himself of a size not less than 1 1/4
inches in height and 1 3/4 inches in length, which photograph
shall be filed with the application.
C.
Such applicant for a driver's license under this chapter
shall be fingerprinted before the license is issued.
D.
All applications for driver's licenses shall be filed
with the Municipal Clerk, in writing, in duplicate. The Municipal
Clerk shall submit said applications to the Mayor and Council for
action at the next succeeding meeting, and any and all applications
may be granted or refused by the vote of the majority of the members
of said body present at such meeting.
No taxi owner's license shall be issued for
any vehicle herein required to be licensed until the owner thereof
shall have filed an application for the same, addressed to the Mayor
and Council, setting forth the character of the vehicle proposed to
be licensed, the correct name of the owner thereof, the residence
or address of the principal office of such owner, and filed with the
Municipal Clerk a certification of insurance policy, with the premium
prepaid thereon, of a company duly licensed to transact business under
the insurance laws of the State of New Jersey, in the sum of $500,000
against loss from liability imposed by law upon said owner for damages
on account of bodily injury or death suffered by one person and in
the sum of $1,000,000 against loss from liability imposed by law upon
the same owner for damages on account of bodily injury or death suffered
by more than one person as a result of an accident occurring by reason
of the ownership, maintenance or use of the vehicle so licensed within
the Borough of Atlantic Highlands and the sum of $100,000 against
loss from liability imposed by law upon said owner for personal property
damage suffered by any person or persons as a result of an accident
occurring by reason of ownership, maintenance or use of the vehicle
so licensed. Such license shall continue to be effective and operative
only as long as said insurance policy shall remain in force and effect,
and the full amounts payable thereunder shall remain collectible.
Such insurance policies shall provide for the payment of any final
judgment received by any person or persons on account of the ownership,
maintenance and use of said vehicle or any fault in respect thereto
and shall be for the benefit of any person suffering loss, damage
or injury as aforesaid. If any prepaid insurance premium is for less
than one year, the license issued shall be for the period of the prepaid
premium. Such license may be renewed on filing with the Municipal
Clerk proof of payment for the continuation of said insurance.
The fees for the issuance of the license herein referred to shall be as provided in Chapter 168, Article II:
A.
For each taxicab licensed, up to a maximum of four,
per year, or any fraction thereof.
B.
For each taxicab owner's license, which owner shall
have five or more cabs operating in the Borough of Atlantic Highlands
for all said taxicabs.
C.
For each taxicab driver's license, per year, or any
fraction thereof.
The Mayor and Council of the Borough of Atlantic
Highlands may, in its discretion, refuse to issue or renew or may,
after notice and hearing, revoke or suspend:
A.
Any license of either class if the applicant or licensee,
within two years next preceding the filing of an application hereunder,
or who, having obtained a license while said license is in effect
hereunder, has been or is convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude
in this or any other jurisdiction, or of being a disorderly person
in this or any other jurisdiction, or of reckless driving or whose
driving privileges have been revoked in this or any other state, or
who violates any provision of this chapter, or who has any judgment
unsatisfied of record against him arising out of an automobile accident,
or who has failed or fails to render reasonable, prompt, safe and
adequate taxicab service, or who has not complied fully with all the
requirements of this chapter for such class of license.
B.
Any taxicab driver's license if the applicant has
any communicable or contagious disease.
C.
Any taxicab owner's license if the motor vehicle licensed
or to be licensed by reason of unsafe or unsanitary condition is dangerous
to the safety and health of the occupants or others, or if the policy
of insurance required by this chapter or by any statute of New Jersey
has once lapsed, or such coverage is not maintained at all times.
D.
Any license of either class if the driver shall accept
any passenger for transportation from any point or place other than
a fixed taxi stand designated by the Mayor and Council for such taxicab
unless such passenger has requested transportation at the regularly
operated taxicab office or terminus of the particular taxicab involved
or without the solicitation of the driver, owner or anyone on their
behalf has requested transportation requiring the driver to immediately
pick up the passenger from a point or place where the passenger is
situated.
Each applicant granted a taxicab driver's license
shall be issued a license card in evidence thereof in a form approved
by the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Atlantic Highlands and
signed by the Municipal Clerk in his behalf. Said license card shall,
at all times, be carried by the driver while operating a taxicab.
In addition, the owner of the taxicab shall furnish a card with the
name of the driver which shall at all times be prominently displayed
and adequately posted in the interior of any taxicab operated by the
licensee so that the face thereof shall be at all times in full view
and plainly legible to any passenger seated on the rear seat of such
taxicab, and there shall be affixed to such card in full view of such
passengers a photograph of a size not less than 1 1/4 inches
in height and 1 3/4 inches in length, of such licensed driver,
together with a photograph of the licensed owner of such taxicab of
the same size, and each of such photographs shall have indicated thereon
the words "Licensed Taxicab Owner" or "Licensed Taxicab Driver," as
the case may be.
The operation of any taxicab pursuant to this
chapter shall be permitted and shall be lawful only so long as the
applicable liability insurance policies prescribed by this chapter
shall remain in full force to the full and collectible amount stated
in said policies.
Every taxicab so licensed shall have conspicuously
located on the exterior thereof the words "Taxi," "Cab" or "Taxicab."
The violation by the taxicab owner or the taxicab
driver of any rules, regulations, special rulings and findings which
are hereafter promulgated by the Mayor and Council of the Borough
of Atlantic Highlands and included within a resolution or resolutions
adopted by said governing body, shall be sufficient cause for suspension
or revocation of any license granted to such taxicab owner or driver
pursuant to this chapter and shall be sufficient cause for the refusal
by the Mayor and Council to renew such license, in addition to any
and all other grounds heretofore specifically mentioned in this chapter.
Owners and drivers of taxicabs licensed out
of the jurisdiction of this Borough may be allowed to enter their
taxicab in this Borough, but on specific call only, whether transporting
a passenger within this Borough to a point outside the Borough limits
or discharging a passenger transported from a point outside the Borough
limits to a point within the Borough limits, and the name of the passenger
so calling him shall be given by the owner or driver when requested
by the Borough police or other lawful persons. Such taxicabs shall
not be parked in this Borough, nor shall the drivers thereof cruise
on the streets of this Borough at any time for the purpose of soliciting
passengers; provided, however, that the same or similar substantial
reciprocal rights are granted to owners and drivers of taxicabs licensed
in this Borough by the municipalities in which the aforesaid owners
or drivers are licensed.
Any person or persons who shall violate any
of the provisions of this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof,
be subject to a fine not exceeding $200 or imprisonment in the county
jail for a term not exceeding 90 days, in the discretion of the Judge
by whom such person is convicted.
