Home > Policy Development > Stretch Limo 

There are currently estimated to be 70+ “American style” stretch limousines operating in Northern Ireland. These vehicles do not meet the current PSV requirements for taxis or buses (e.g. minibus) for a number of reasons.  

Specifically, all taxis in Northern Ireland are required by law to be right hand drive. This reflects the view that vehicles used for carrying passengers for hire and reward must be capable of doing so in safety and comfort. It is more difficult for the driver of a left hand drive vehicle to judge space and distance when meeting oncoming vehicles. In addition, passengers entering or leaving the front passenger seats of such vehicles might have to step out into traffic, increasing the risk of injury.

Stretched limousines are also unlikely to meet the PSV requirements for a taxi or a bus in terms of eg. turning circle requirements, standards of access/egress, design and construction.

Therefore, when stretched limousines are used in Northern Ireland to carry passengers for reward they are operating illegally.

Overall in Great Britain there is no legislation similar to our PSV regulations that apply to taxi type vehicles so individual licensing authorities are free to choose whether or not to license left-hand-drive vehicles as private hire vehicles. In the absence of guidance from the Department for Transport there is currently little uniformity in practice. Some 174 authorities license such vehicles as private hire vehicles but impose restrictions on their size, construction and passenger-carrying capacity.  

The Department is currently working closely with the Department for Transport in GB to find a solution to the problem as quickly as possible.