Wednesday, August 23, 2006; Posted: 10:10 a.m.
The Oklahoma City Police Department is getting tough on unlicensed limousine services operating in Oklahoma City. On Tuesday, officers addressed the situation head-on.
An investigator posing as a fare contacted two limousine services that advertise publicly. The businesses did not have a city-issued vehicle for hire business license. One of the services did not show up at the agreed upon time.
The second service, MK2 Limousine Service, picked up the investigator on South Meridian and drove him to the Cox Center. At that point, investigators from the Permits and ID Unit of the Oklahoma City Police Department and a representative from the Transportation Division of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission spoke to the driver of the limo, 42-year-old Robert Clark.
The owner of the service, 50-year-old Michael Billings, also responded to the scene after police contacted him.
Captain Jeffrey Becker with the Oklahoma City Police Department says Clark and Billings were given six citations each, including failing to have the vehicle for hire business license and failure to have adequate insurance. Becker also says each citation is $750.
The Corporation Commission representative also issued a citation against Clark, the driver, for operating a motor vehicle without valid license/ certificate. Both men were transported to the Municipal Courts where they posted bond. Becker says they knew these two companies were operating illegally.
"If you look in the phone book you'll see that a lot more business are advertising than are licensed," says Becker.
Oklahoma City Police will continue to address the on-going problem of limousine services operating illegally in Oklahoma City. As of Wednesday, 15 limousine/van services are properly licensed with a city-issued vehicle for hire business license. If a limo service in Oklahoma City picks up a fare here, they are required to obtain this license and be inspected by the Permits and ID Unit.
Several more limousine companies are operating illegally. Police say they obtain business through advertising in the Yellow Pages and on various Internet websites. They often use multiple business names tied to the same service and phone number.
Limousine services that are unlicensed and uninspected represent a legitimate safety concern for their passengers. Corporation Commission rules require each vehicle for hire service to carry set amounts of insurance depending on how many passengers a given vehicle can accommodate. Some of these vehicles carry anywhere from eight to 20 passengers at a time. The unlicensed carriers are often also skirting this insurance requirement. This allows them to undercut the legitimate businesses who follow the law by charging lower fares.
The Permits and ID Unit at the Oklahoma City Police Department does annual inspections of all licensed vehicles for hire, and conducts spot checks on vehicles for hire at places like Bricktown and Will Rogers World Airport. Warnings have been issued in the past in an effort to gain compliance, but enforcement action is being taken on the services still not in compliance.
For the protection of the passengers of limo services, it is recommended that customers in Oklahoma City only do business with properly licensed and inspected limo services that can show proof of the legal coverage amount of insurance.
