§ 353-15. Insurance; operation of limousines.

A. 

Insurance requirements.

(1) 

No limousine shall be operated wholly or partly along any street in this Township until the owner of the limousine shall have filed with the Township Clerk, in which the owner has his/her principal place of business within this Township, a certificate of insurance naming the Township of West Milford as an additional insured, by a company duly licensed to transact business under the insurance laws of this state, in the sum of $1,500,000 against loss by reason of the liability imposed by law upon every limousine for damages on account of bodily injury or death suffered by a person as result of an accident occurring by reason of the ownership, maintenance or use of the limousine upon any public street.

(2) 

The operation shall be permitted only so long as the insurance policy remains in full force and effect as to the full and collectible amount of $1,500,000. Limousine owners, or anyone on their behalf, shall not undertake to cancel or have canceled any such policy without giving the Township Clerk 10 days' notice of the intention to do so. No such policy shall be filed by the Township Clerk unless such policy shall contain a provision to the effect that the Township Clerk shall be afforded at least 10 days' notice of the intention of the insurance company which issued such policy to cancel same.

(3) 

The insurance policy shall provide for a payment of any final judgment recovered by any person on account of the ownership, maintenance and use of such limousine upon any public street or any fault in respect thereto and shall be for the benefit of every person suffering loss, damage or injury as aforesaid.

B. 

Every person operating a limousine, whether an owner and/or driver, who is transporting a child under five years on roadways, streets or highways of this Township shall be responsible for the protection of the child by properly using a child passenger restraint system that complies with federal vehicle safety standards. No driver shall operate a limousine in which a child five years of age or younger is a passenger unless:

(1) 

A child 18 months of age or younger is in a car seat regardless of whether such child is in the front or rear seat;

(2) 

A child over 18 months of age but less than five years is in a car seat, if a front seat passenger, or is in a lap belt or lap belt and shoulder harness, if a rear seat passenger.

C. 

Issuance of license of operation; drivers to be licensed.

(1) 

The Township Clerk, upon the filing of the required application and certificate of insurance, shall issue a license, in duplicate, showing that the owner of the limousine service has complied with the terms and provisions of this chapter.

(2) 

The license shall state the name of the insurance company, the number and date of expiration of the policy and a description and the registration number of each limousine service insured thereunder. The duplicate license shall be filed with the Division of Motor Vehicles before any such vehicle is registered as a limousine service.

(3) 

A limousine shall not be operated by anyone for service within the Township unless the driver thereof has been issued a valid limousine driver's license.

D. 

Availability of license for inspection; minimum equipment standards.

(1) 

The original license shall be retained within the limousine and shall be available for inspection by any police officer of the state.

(2) 

No limousine shall operate on the highways of this state unless it has a license issued and the limousine is equipped, in accordance with minimum standards established by the Director of the Division of Motor Vehicles in the Department of Transportation, with:

(a) 

A two-way communications system, which, at a minimum, shall provide for communication to a person outside the vehicle for a distance of not less than 100 miles and which requirement may be satisfied by a mobile telephone.

(b) 

A removable first-aid kit and an operable fire extinguisher, which shall be placed in an accessible place within the vehicle.

(c) 

Sideboards attached to the permanent body construction of the vehicle if the height of the vehicle floor is 10 inches or more above ground level.