Chapter 3
AMBULANCES
Sections:
5-3.02 License required: Fees.
5-3.03 Certificate of public convenience and necessity: Application.
5-3.04 Certificate of public convenience and necessity: Hearing.
5-3.05 Certificate of public convenience and necessity: Issuance.
5-3.06 Equipment: Maintenance.
5-3.09 Color scheme of vehicles.
5-3.12 Driver’s permit: Required.
5-3.13 Driver’s permit: Application.
5-3.14 Driver’s permit: Application fee.
5-3.15 Driver’s permit: Issuance.
5-3.17 Driver’s permit: Revocation.
5-3.18 Revocation of licenses.
5-3.19 Provisions supplemental to other laws.
5-3.01 Definition.
For the purposes of this chapter, “ambulance” shall mean any privately owned vehicle equipped or used for transporting those who are wounded, injured, or sick and shall include, but is not restricted to, emergency vehicles used for such purposes.
(§ 1, Ord. 591 N.C.S.)
5-3.02 License required: Fees.
No person, other than a governmental agency, shall engage in the business of operating an ambulance upon the streets of the City without first having obtained a certificate of public convenience and necessity from the Council and paying an annual business license fee in the amount of One Hundred and no/100ths ($100.00) Dollars for the first vehicle so owned and operated by him and Fifty and no/100ths ($50.00) Dollars for each additional ambulance owned and operated by him.
(§ 2, Ord. 591 N.C.S.)
5-3.03 Certificate of public convenience and necessity: Application.
An application for a certificate of public convenience and necessity shall be filed with the City Clerk upon forms provided by the City, and such application shall be verified under oath and shall furnish the following information:
(a) The name and address of the applicant;
(b) The financial status of the applicant, including the amounts of all unpaid judgments against the applicant and the nature of the transaction or acts giving rise to such judgments;
(c) The experience of the applicant in the transportation of persons and operation of ambulances;
(d) Any facts which the applicant believes tend to prove that the public convenience and necessity require the granting of a certificate;
(e) The number of vehicles to be operated or controlled by the applicant and the location of the proposed place of business, as well as the place where such vehicles are to be parked;
(f) The color scheme or insignia to be used to designate the vehicles of the applicant; and
(g) Such further information as the Chief of Police may require.
(§ 3, Ord. 591 N.C.S.)
5-3.04 Certificate of public convenience and necessity: Hearing.
Upon the filing of an application for a certificate of public convenience and necessity, the City Clerk shall fix a time and place for a public hearing thereon. Notice of such hearing shall be given to the applicant and to all persons to whom certificates of public convenience and necessity have been issued. Due notice shall also be given the general public by posting a notice of such hearing in the City Hall. Any interested person may file with the City Clerk a memorandum in support of or in opposition to the issuance of a certificate of public convenience and necessity.
(§ 4, Ord. 591 N.C.S.)
5-3.05 Certificate of public convenience and necessity: Issuance.
If the Council finds that further ambulance service in the City is required by the public convenience and necessity and that the applicant is fit, willing, and able to perform such public transportation and to conform to the provisions of this chapter and the rules promulgated by the Council, the City Clerk shall issue a certificate of public convenience and necessity stating the name and address of the applicant, the number of vehicles authorized under the certificate, and the date of issuance; otherwise, the application shall be denied.
In making such findings, the Council shall take into consideration the number of ambulances already in operation, whether existing service is adequate to meet the public need, the probable effect of increased service on local traffic conditions, and the character, experience, and responsibility of the applicant.
Every person owning and operating a licensed ambulance in the City prior to August 7, 1958, shall be presumed, in the absence of any contrary evidence and finding by the Council, to have provided prima facie evidence of the public convenience and necessity for the licensing of the ambulances actually in operation in the City, and the Council upon application received by the Council not later than August 22, 1958, shall grant a certificate of public convenience and necessity to such owner for the operation of ambulances then in operation. Every owner obtaining such certificate shall be entitled to the number of ambulance permits held by such owner that were in force on August 6, 1958. The license fees required by this chapter shall become due and payable on the first day of July, 1958, and shall be payable annually thereafter on the first day of July of each year.
(§ 5, Ord. 591 N.C.S.)
5-3.06 Equipment: Maintenance.
(a) Prior inspection of equipment. Prior to the initial use and operation of any vehicle as an ambulance, such vehicle and the premises from which it is to be operated shall be thoroughly examined and inspected by the Health Officer for safety and sanitation, and thereafter its license shall be required to comply with such reasonable rules and regulations relating to safety and sanitation as may be prescribed by the Health Officer. Such rules and regulations shall specify, among other things, such safety and sanitary equipment and regulatory devices as the Health Officer shall deem necessary.
(b) Periodic inspections. Every ambulance, as well as the premises from which it is operated, shall be periodically inspected by the Health Officer at such times as shall be designated by him.
(c) Unsafe ambulances. No ambulance which is unsafe or in any way unsuitable for ambulance service shall be operated.
(§ 6, Ord. 591 N.C.S.)
5-3.07 Insurance.
No license for the operation of an ambulance shall be issued, nor shall such license be valid after issuance, nor shall any ambulance be operated unless there is at all times in force and effect, to provide adequate protection against liability for damages which may be or have been imposed for each negligent operation of each such ambulance, its driver, or attendant, a liability insurance policy approved by the City Clerk and issued by an insurance company authorized to do business in the State.
Such policy shall provide protection against liability of the licensee of an ambulance for the payment of damages in amounts at least as follows:
(a) In the amount of One Hundred Thousand and no/100ths ($100,000.00) Dollars on account of bodily injuries to, or death of, one person;
(b) In the amount of Two Hundred Thousand and no/100ths ($200,000.00) Dollars against the total liability of the licensee on account of bodily injuries to, or death of, more than one person as a result of any one accident; and
(c) In the amount of Ten Thousand and no/100ths ($10,000.00) Dollars for one accident resulting in damage or destruction of property, whether the property of one or more than one claimant.
The liability insurance policy required by this section shall inure to the benefit of any person who shall be injured or who shall sustain damage to property proximately caused by the negligence of the licensee insured by such policy or his employees or agents.
Satisfactory evidence that the liability insurance required by this section is at all times in full force and effect shall be furnished the City Clerk by each licensee required to provide such insurance.
(§ 7, Ord. 591 N.C.S.)
5-3.08 Transfer of licenses.
No license for the operation of an ambulance may be sold, assigned, mortgaged, or otherwise transferred without the consent of the City Manager.
An application for the transfer of any license for an ambulance shall be subject to the terms, conditions, and requirements as in the application for an original license.
(§ 8, Ord. 591 N.C.S.)
5-3.09 Color scheme of vehicles.
The licensee of every ambulance shall adopt a color scheme and, after approval thereof by the Chief of Police, shall apply such color scheme to each ambulance authorized by a particular license. The Chief of Police shall not approve or permit the adoption or application of any color scheme which imitates or conflicts with any other color scheme authorized by this chapter or which is misleading or would tend to deceive the public.
No sign, letter, color, appliance, or thing of decorative or distinguishing nature shall be attached or applied to any ambulance other than such as has been approved by the Chief of Police in the color scheme authorized for each such private ambulance.
(§ 9, Ord. 591 N.C.S.)
5-3.10 Additional vehicles.
Any person holding a license to operate one or more ambulances and who desires to add to the number of such vehicles shall do so only by obtaining a license therefor from the City Manager which license shall be granted only upon application made in the same manner and under the same proceedings as are required in the instance of obtaining the original license.
(§ 10, Ord. 591 N.C.S.)
5-3.11 Substitute vehicles.
Any person holding a license to operate one or more ambulances and who desires to substitute a different vehicle for a vehicle operated under such license shall do so only upon obtaining from the City Manager permission therefor, which shall be granted only upon written application setting forth the particulars of such proposed substitution and upon otherwise complying with the requirements of this chapter.
(§ 11, Ord. 591 N.C.S.)
5-3.12 Driver’s permit: Required.
No person shall drive an ambulance licensed pursuant to the provisions of this chapter without first obtaining a permit in writing to do so from the Chief of Police.
(§ 12, Ord. 591 N.C.S.)
5-3.13 Driver’s permit: Application.
An application for a driver’s permit shall be made upon a form furnished by the City and shall contain:
(a) A statement giving the applicant’s full name, present residence address, and any other residence address during the past year;
(b) The age, sex, marital status, weight, height, color of eyes and hair, and whether or not the applicant has ever been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor, giving the particulars of each conviction; and
(c) Whether the applicant has previously been licensed as a driver, chauffeur, or attendant and, if so, when and where, and whether his license has ever been revoked or suspended and for what cause.
(§ 13, Ord. 591 N.C.S.)
5-3.14 Driver’s permit: Application fee.
Applicants for drivers’ permits shall pay to the Director of Finance a fee in the amount of Three and no/100ths ($3.00) Dollars for each application. A copy of the receipt for fees shall be filed with the Chief of Police.
(§ 12, Ord. 591 N.C.S.)
5-3.15 Driver’s permit: Issuance.
(a) The Chief of Police shall issue a driver’s permit when he finds that the applicant:
(1) Is twenty-one (21) years of age or over;
(2) Is morally fit for the position;
(3) Is able to speak, read, and write the English language;
(4) Has an adequate knowledge of first aid; and
(5) Has complied with the requirements of this chapter and all other governing laws and ordinances.
(b) No permit shall be issued to any person who has been convicted of a felony or a crime involving moral turpitude, use or possession of narcotics, or for operating a vehicle under the influence of intoxicating liquor within the five (5) years immediately preceding the application for a permit.
(§ 15, Ord. 591 N.C.S.)
5-3.16 Driver’s permit: Form.
Each driver’s permit shall be in the form of a card which shall bear the signature, photograph, and fingerprints of the applicant. Such cards shall be issued in duplicate, and one copy with the fingerprints, photograph, and signature of the applicant shall be carried on the person of the permittee at all times while driving an ambulance.
(§ 16, Ord. 591 N.C.S.)
5-3.17 Driver’s permit: Revocation.
The Chief of Police may revoke any driver’s permit issued by him when, in his opinion, the permittee is unfit to serve as a driver of an ambulance under the qualifications prescribed by the provisions of this chapter.
(§ 17, Ord. 591 N.C.S.)
5-3.18 Revocation of licenses.
The Council, after public hearing, may revoke any license granted pursuant to the provisions of this chapter on any one or more of the following grounds:
(a) That the license was obtained by fraud or misrepresentation;
(b) That the license has failed to operate an ambulance in accordance with the provisions and requirements of this chapter;
(c) That the Council finds that the licensee’s past record is unsatisfactory; or
(d) That the license has ceased to operate any ambulance for a period of thirty (30) consecutive days without having obtained permission for such cessation of operations from the Council.
(§ 18, Ord. 591 N.C.S.)
5-3.19 Provisions supplemental to other laws.
The provisions of this chapter shall be deemed to be supplemental to the licensing provisions of this Code (see Chapter 4 of Title 3 of this Code) and to any other pertinent laws of the City.
(§ 19, Ord. 591 N.C.S.)