City of Montgomery v. Orpheum Taxi Co.

• Decision Date: 06 February 1919
• Docket Number: 3 Div. 374
• Parties: CITY OF MONTGOMERY et al. v. ORPHEUM TAXI CO.
• Court: Alabama Supreme Court

82 So. 117

203 Ala. 103

CITY OF MONTGOMERY et al. v. ORPHEUM TAXI CO.

3 Div. 374

Supreme Court of Alabama

February 6, 1919

Rehearing Denied May 15, 1919

Appeal from Circuit Court, Montgomery County; Gaston Gunter, Judge.

Bill by the Orpheum Taxi Company against the City of Montgomery and the City Commissioners to enjoin the enforcement of the taxicab ordinance. There was judgment for complainant, and respondents appeal. Reversed and rendered.

Sayre J., dissenting.

The ordinance directed to be set out is as follows:

Be it ordained by the board of commissioners of the city of Montgomery, Alabama, as follows:

Section 1. Parking Defined.--The term "parking," as herein used, means the standing of taxicabs, motor driven or propelled in any other manner, longer than may be necessary to receive or discharge passengers, merchandise, or other articles for whom or which he has been engaged to transport.

Sec. 2. Definition "Taxicab."--The term "taxicab," as used herein, shall embrace all automobiles and other vehicles of like construction and operation employed in the carriage of passengers for hire within the city of Montgomery.

Sec. 3. The Parking of Taxicabs.--No taxicab shall be permitted to park or stand at any hour of the day or night for a longer time than is actually necessary to receive or discharge passengers, merchandise, or other articles for whom or which he has been engaged to carry for transportation on any street in the city of Montgomery, Alabama, except the city commission may authorize taxicabs to be parked on each side of the street not less than fifty feet apart.

Sec. 4. Caps or Hats of Taxi Drivers.--It shall be unlawful for any person to drive or operate a taxicab unless he shall wear a cap or hat with the words "Licensed Taxicab" in plain, legible letters appearing on the front thereof.

Sec. 5. Drivers of taxicabs for hire must not congregate in crowds away from their vehicles, nor shall any driver of such vehicle solicit business in a loud or offensive tone, or in an insistent manner, nor while the vehicle is in motion and must only do so while the car is standing, and he must be in his car when doing so.

Sec. 6. It shall be unlawful for any driver of a taxicab for hire to take on or discharge passengers while the taxicab is in motion.

Sec. 7. It shall be unlawful for a taxicab for hire to operate on the streets of the city unless there shall be posted in a conspicuous place on the inside of such taxicab a card, which shall contain in legible type the rate of fare provided for taxicabs in this city.

Sec. 8. No one shall be permitted to operate an automobile while intoxicated or who shall use profane language while waiting on the streets or in the presence of his passengers.

Sec. 9. No person shall drive or operate a taxicab who is less than eighteen (18) years of age, or incapacitated from using both feet and both hands to operate the vehicle.

Sec. 10. In case of accident or injury in which a taxicab is a participant, the driver must stop at once and ascertain the extent of the injury and render assistance, and must give his name and address and license number, and report the accident to the chief of police or the sergeant of police.

Sec. 11. Spot Lights.--Spot lights shall not be lighted or used by a taxicab while in motion on the public streets except when projecting their rays on the highway at a distance not exceeding sixty (60) feet of the taxicab.

Sec. 12. It shall be unlawful for any person to operate a taxicab who may hereafter be convicted of violating any ordinance of the city or of the laws of the state of Alabama in regard to selling liquor or transporting a person for immoral purposes.

Sec. 13. Every person driving or operating a taxicab in the city of Montgomery must procure a license from the city clerk.

Sec. 14. The city clerk and city treasurer shall have the power and authority, and it is hereby made their duty, to examine into the qualifications and fitness of any person who may desire to operate or drive a taxicab in the city so that the safety and comfort of the general public shall not be endangered by the operation of such taxicabs. In examining persons, who may apply for examination as to their capacity to operate or drive taxicabs within the city, the city clerk and city treasurer shall enforce the following rules and regulations:

(a) Such applicant must have the free use of both hands and feet, and shall not be less than eighteen years of age, and shall have had at least six months' experience in operating automoblies.

(b) The applicant must not be of a reckless disposition nor subject to epilepsy.

(c) The applicant must state experience in operating an automobile and record of accidents, if any.

(d) The applicant must be familiar with the ordinances of the city governing the use and operation of such machines and the use on public streets.

(e) A license shall not be issued to any person to operate a taxicab unless such person is recommended in writing by three reputable and responsible citizens of Montgomery.

(f) Any person desiring to secure a license as a driver of taxicab shall make application in writing therefor to the city clerk, upon a form to be furnished by the city clerk which shall be in such form that the applicant shall give all of the information required in the previous sections and the same shall be sworn to by him, and said applicant shall be endorsed by three reputable and responsible persons of the city, who shall certify that the applicant is a person of good habits, honest, sober, and not of a reckless disposition.

(g) The city clerk shall keep a record of the name, age address,

and occupation of all persons licensed as automobile drivers and if any licensed driver of a taxicab shall change his residence at any time before the expiration of the license he shall notify the city clerk of such act.

(h) The city clerk shall keep a record of the name, address, and occupation of the persons who recommended the applicant for a license, and also the sureties on the applicant's bond.

(i) The city clerk shall not grant an applicant a license unless he and the city treasurer shall agree that the applicant is a fit person to be granted a license under the provisions of this ordinance; but should the city clerk and city treasurer decide that said applicant should not be granted a license under the provisions of this ordinance, the applicant may appeal to the board of commissioners. Upon hearing the appeal the board of commissioners may direct the city clerk to issue a license to the applicant or dismiss the applicant's appeal.

Sec. 15. Said application for license shall be accompanied by a fee of one and no/100 dollars ($1.00). If such applicant is licensed as a driver of a taxicab for hire, he should be authorized for the license year ending December 31, 1918, unless his license has been revoked by the provisions of this ordinance, or some other ordinance of the city, and each year thereafter said applicant may have his license renewed upon the payment of one dollar ($1.00) for the current license year, unless he has his license revoked under the provisions of this ordinance or some other ordinance of the city: If said application is not granted, the one dollar accompanying the application shall be refunded to applicant upon his demand.

Sec. 16. It shall be unlawful for any person to drive or hold himself out as a driver of any automobile without being licensed as such driver or to borrow or lend license or badge, or to use the license or badge of another.

Sec. 17. When transporting passengers a taxicab must follow the route usually used unless informed differently by the hirer of the taxicab.

Sec. 18. Every driver of a taxicab, upon being requested to do so, shall give to any person, who has been a passenger in his automobile or who was about to be a passenger or to any military policeman, city policeman, or sheriff, the license number and name of such driver, and the license number of the automobile.

Sec. 19. White and colored passengers shall not be carried at the same time in any taxicab for hire in the city of Montgomery, provided that this provision shall not apply to colored nurses or other servants when accompanied by their employer.

Sec. 20. No person shall be licensed to drive a taxicab for hire in the city of Montgomery unless he shall furnish and maintain a bond in the sum of five hundred dollars ($500.00), said bond to be made payable to the city for the use and benefit of any person or persons injured or damaged by a taxicab which said driver may be operating. Said bond must be signed by the applicant and one or more sureties, and the sureties on said bond shall be worth at least, free of all debts and incumbrances and exemptions, twice the amount of the bond. The terms and surety of said bond to be subject to the approval of the city commissioners. It shall be unlawful for any person to operate a taxicab for hire unless he shall have previously given said bond.

Sec. 21. Any driver of a taxicab for hire who shall neglect to comply with any of the provisions of this ordinance, or who shall violate any of the provisions of this ordinance, shall for each offense, upon conviction in the recorder or municipal court, be punished by a fine of not less than five dollars ($5.00) and not exceeding one hundred and no/100 dollars ($100.00) or imprisonment not exceeding six months, and in addition to such fine or imprisonment for the first offense his license shall be suspended for ten days; for the second offense his license shall be suspended sixty days; and for the third offense his license shall be revoked and the city official convicting a person who operates a taxicab for hire under the provisions of this ordinance is hereby authorized to suspend or

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