§ 50-21. Annual inspection required.
(a)
No vehicle shall be licensed until it has been annually examined by a reputable automobile repair facility and found to be in a thoroughly satisfactory and safe condition for the transportation of passengers, clean, of good appearance and well painted. The Chief of Police shall determine whether said vehicle complies with all the other provisions of this chapter. If such examination and inspection shows that vehicle does not comply with any of the provisions of this section, no license shall be issued. At the request of the Chief of Police, the taxicab owners shall take their vehicles to a reputable garage for an independent inspection at owner's expense.
(b)
No taxicab shall be licensed until the Police Department has approved that:
(1)
The horn, footbrake, windshield, rear vision mirror, fenders, exhaust system, windshield wipers, emergency brake, directional signals, speedometer, license lamps, tires, headlamps, stop lamps and tail lamps are in legal working order as required by the State Motor Vehicle Code;
(2)
The taxicab is in generally safe, sanitary and reliable condition.
(c)
The inspection required by this section is only an inspection of the taxicab's exterior and passenger areas and shall not be a thorough mechanical inspection of the taxicab. Nothing in this section shall be interpreted as relieving the owner or operator of a taxicab from any and all liability arising from any unsafe, unsanitary, unreliable or illegal conditions existing in his taxicab, whether or not such conditions are discovered or omitted by the inspections required herein. This section shall not be interpreted as creating a duty or liability on the part of the City, the Police Department or any employee or agent of the City to any person.
(d)
Any police officer of this City may, at all reasonable times, inspect any cab or public hack under such taxicab business license and may prohibit the use of any cab which is unsafe or not in proper repair.
(Code 1991, § 7-7-3)