Taxis Carry Hay By Law

According to section 51 of the London Hackney Carriage Act 1831, a London Hackney Carriage, which was the horse drawn equivalent of a taxi in those days, by law had to keep a bale of hay in the boot to feed the then horses.

London Black Cab - wikipedia

Of course at some point the horses became outdated with the motor car revolution, but the law still held.

Some places actually even constructed very small bales of hay to carry in a taxi during disputes with local councils on the matter.

Along with the hay bales, the vehicles still had to be tethered at a taxi rank, and the council had to supply a water trough to the taxi rank.

The law for this held for well over 100 years, only being amended in 1976, although some taxi drivers still carry around small bales of hay on the boot just for the fun of it.

And before you think the Brits were more than a little silly having this law in place for so long, bear in mind that here in Australia, we also had to follow the same law and to the best of my knowledge it actually still exists without amendment.