Ord 2358 9/25/1967 .
ORDINANCE NO. 2358
AN ORDINANCE PROVIDING FOR THE REGULATION OF INVALID
COACH SERVICE; PROVIDING FOR LICENSE AND LICENSE FEE;
PROVIDING FOR KEEPING OF RECORDS; PROVIDING FOR EQUIP-
MENT STANDARDS AND RULES AND REGULATIONS; AMENDING
ORDINANCE NO. 2310; DECLARING AN EMERGENCY. '
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN OF THE CITY OF
WICHITA FALLS, TEXAS: •
SECTION 1. Definitions. For the purpose of this ordi-
nance, the following terms shall have the meaning given herein.
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1.01 "City" means the City of Wichita Falls, Texas .
1.02 "Invalid Coach" means a motor vehicle constructed,
reconstructed or arranged for the purpose of transporting sick
or injured persons under conditions other than emergency con-
ditions.
1.03 "Emergency" means the existence of circumstances in
which the element of time in transporting the sick or injured
for medical treatment is essential to the health or life of
such person.
1.04 "Health Officer" means the Director of the Wichita
Falls City-County Health Unit, or his designated representative.
SECTION 2 . License.
2 .01 License required. It shall be unlawful for any per-
son, firm or corporation to operate any invalid coach within
the City of Wichita Falls without obtaining a license hereunder.
This shall not apply to the picking up of a patient in the City
and delivering the patient outside the City, nor to picking up
a patient outside the City and delivering such patient inside
the City. Also, this ordinance shall not apply to the operation
of an invalid coach by a governmental agency.
2 .02 Application for license. The application for a license
to operate an invalid coach shall be on a form furnished by the
City Clerk, and shall be filed with the City Clerk. This applica-
tion shall contain a description of the vehicle, including the
markings which will be used to identify it. The applicant shall
also file with the City Clerk the indemnity agreement and the in-
surance policies hereinafter required.
2 .03 Issuance of license. If the invalid coach meets all
the requirements of this ordinance, the Health Officer shall
certify such fact to the City Clerk. If all the other require-
ments of this ordinance have been met, the City Clerk shall issue
a license upon payment of the fee hereafter prescribed.
2 .04 License fee. The license fee for the operation of
an invalid coach shall be $25 .00 per year per vehicle. Such
licenses shall expire on the first of January following their
issuance, and may be renewed b y th e payment of the annual fee.
2 .05 Licenses not transferable. No license issued here-
under shall be assignable or transferable by the person or
firm to whom issued. Any transfer of shares of stock or inter-
est in any firm or corporation so as to cause a change in the
directors, officers, shareholders, or managers of such firm
or corporation shall be deemed a transfer or assignment as
contemplated above.
SECTION 3. Insurance and indemnification agreement.
3.01 Insurance required. Every operator shall carry general
and auto liability and property damage insurance, with coverage
of at least $100, 000 for injuries to or death of any one person
in any one accident and at least $300, 000 for injuries to or death
of more than one person in any one accident, and of at least $50,000
for damages to property from any one accident. The operator and
his insurance carrier shall waive the right to plead the guest
statute of Texas as a defense to any action that may be brought
for the recovery of damages for personal injury caused by the •
ordinary negligence of the operator or his agents, servants and
employees, to a patient being transferred in said invalid coach.
3.02 Indemnity agreement. Before the issuance of the li-
cense, the operator of an invalid coach shall execute an agreement
indemnifying the City of Wichita Falls from any damages arising
out of the operation of such invalid coach.
SECTION 4. Operating rules and regulations. All license
holders shall comply with the following rules and regulations :
4.01 An invalid coach shall not be used for hire; no charge
shall be made for transporting persons in it, nor shall any pay-
ment be received for such service, regardless of the source of
the payment. A sign shall be posted clearly in each coach stating
that it is not for hire and no charge shall be made, nor payment
received, for transportation in it.
4.02 An invalid coach shall not be used for emergency calls,
and it shall not be equiped with, nor be allowed to operate with,
a siren and/or red warning lights .
4.03 An invalid coach shall transport only the patients of
the institution, firm or individual owning and operating such
coach.
4.04 Every call for invalid coach service shall be made by,
or at the direction of, a physician.
4.05 Each license holder shall keep a daily record showing
the name of each person transported by invalid coach, the name
of the doctor ordering the service, and the time, place of origin
and place of destination for each trip made. Such records shall
be preserved for at least six (6) months, and shall be submitted
to the Health Officer or the City Clerk upon demand.
4.06 No invalid coach trip shall be commenced earlier than
8 :00 a.m. nor later than 5 :00 p.m.
4.07 The color of all invalid coaches shall be different
and distinctive from the color of ambulances licensed under Ordi-
nance No. 2310 . Each invalid coach shall carry markings by which
it may be identified.
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.
4.08 Clean and sanitary bed linens shall be provided for
each patient carried and shall be changed as soon as practicable
after the discharge of a patient.
4.09 Each invalid coach shall have either a driver or an
attendant who holds a current certificate of advanced Red Cross
first aid, or a U. S . Bureau of Mines Certificate certified by
the City-County Health Unit.
SECTION 5 . Invalid coach equipment. License holders shall
maintain in good operating condition, or ready for use, all of
the following equipment which shall be modern and capable of ren-
dering a satisfactory invalid coach service.
5 .01 All motor vehicles used hereunder shall be designed
and constructed to transport sick or injured persons in comfort
and safety, and shall be maintained in clean, sanitary and in
first-class mechanical condition at all times.
5 .02 All motor vehicles used hereunder shall have as stand-
ard equipment: (a) four-wheel brakes in good operating condi-
tion; (b) parking brakes ; (c) front and rear bumpers ; (d) heater
and defroster sufficient to heat interior of coach in cold weather;
(e) air conditioner capable of cooling interior of coach in hot
weather; (f) right and left side rear view mirrors and one in
driver' s compartment; (g) a speedometer, exposed to view, and
maintained in accurate operating condition; (h) power steering;
(i) windshield wiper and washer; (j) tires with a minimum of 4/32
inch tread; (k) tires shall have a 6-ply or equivalent rating as
a minimum; (1) factory recommended shock absorbers.
5.03 Each invalid coach shall have at least two exits from
the compartment where the patient is carried.
5 .04 Each invalid coach shall be equiped with, in usable
and workable condition at all times while in service, (a) one
standard first aid kit; (b) traction splints for the proper
transportation of fractures of the extremities ; (c) one ambu-
lance cot or stretcher, with adequate straps to secure the pa-
tient safely to the stretcher or cot and adequate means of se-
curing the stretcher or cot within the vehicle; (d) such other
equipment as the physician who called for the invalid coach
deems necessary for proper care of the patient; (e) one fire
extinguisher.
5 .05 The Health Officer shall be responsible for certifying
the sanitation of vehicles and the equipping of same in accord-
ance with Section 5 of this ordinance.
5.06 All invalid coaches shall be subject to the same status
ordinances, and rules and regulations relating to safety and
operating equipment applicable to other motor vehicles in Wichita
Falls . All mechanical, safety and special equipment shall be
subject to inspection at any time by authorized officials.
5 .07 No invalid coach that has been substantially damaged
or altered shall be again placed in service until it has been re-
inspected.
SECTION 6. Chauffeurs. No person shall drive an invalid
coach on any street in the City of Wichita Falls unless he holds
a chauffeurs license issued by the State of Texas, he is in good
health and physical condition and he holds a current certificate
of advanced Red Cross first aid or a U. S. Bureau of Mines cer-
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tificate certified by City-County Health Unit; provided, how-
ever, that the driver need not hold such a certificate if he
is. accompanied by another person who does hold such a certi-
ficate.
SECTION 7. Every person, firm or corporation who holds a
license as an ambulance operator under Ordinance No. 2310 may
operate an invalid coach without obtaining a license under this
ordinance . In that event, Paragraphs 4.01, 4.03 and 4.07 shall
not apply to such ambulance operator. If a licensed ambulance
is used by him as an invalid coach, the provision of Paragraph ti
4.02 to the effect that it shall not be equipped with a siren
and/or red warning lights shall not apply to such vehicle.
SECTION 8. The issuance of a license under this ordinance
shall not relieve the operator from the necessity of obtaining
any permit which may be required by state law.
SECTION 9. Penalty; revocation of license . Any person who
shall violate any of the provisions of this ordinance shall be
guilty of an offense and upon conviction thereof shall be pun-
ishable by fine not to exceed the sum of $100 . Each day that
a violation continues shall be considered a separate offense.
Any license which has been issued hereunder may be revoked by
the Board of Aldermen of the City of Wichita Falls, after notice
to the license holder and a hearing thereon, for violation of
the provisions of this ordinance.
SECTION 10 . Sub-section 2 .01 of Ordinance No. 2310 is
hereby amended by adding the following sentence to such sub-
section:
"This shall not apply to the operation of an invalid coach
by an operator who holds a license under the invalid coach ordi-
nance of the City of Wichita Falls . Also, this ordinance shall
not apply to the operation of an ambulance by a governmental
agency. "
SECTION 11. Section 14 of Ordinance No. 2310 is hereby
amended so that it shall read as follows :
"SECTION 14. PENALTY. Any person who shall violate any
of the provisions of this ordinance shall be guilty of an of-
fense and upon conviction thereof shall be punishable by fine
not to exceed the sum of $100. "
SECTION 12 . Severability. If any provision of this ordi-
nance shall be adjudged invalid, it shall not impair any of the
remaining provisions hereof.
SECTION 13 . The provisions of this ordinance shall be in-
cluded and incorporated in the Wichita Falls Code of Ordinances
as an addition thereto, and shall be appropriately renumbered
to conform to the uniform numbering system of the Code.
SECTION 14. Emergency. The fact that a number of persons
in the City require the immediate use of such invalid coach
service creates an emergency, and this ordinance is declared
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s
a
an emergency measure on the ground of urgent public need for
the preservation of the health of the City, and same shall
become effective immediately.
PASSED AND APPROVED this the 25th day of September, 1967 .
A Y O R/e-I -N‘Qe(4.11449 ie
ATTEST:
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City Clerk
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