You have probably heard of the deadly incident that took place on October 3rd, 2018 when a stretched limousine ran into an accident and took 20 lives away. That tragic incident has to be kept in mind as a reminder of the criticality of taking precautions whenever you plan to hire a luxury limo service in San Francisco CA, regardless of the reason.
However, despite that tragic incident, the limousine has always been considered as an extraordinary ride that’s typically reserved for some very special occasions. You simply won’t find a lot of people buying a limo as their family car, even though the majority of the limos are the SUV sedan. Probably the biggest reason is limousines simply add style and class to any special event like a corporate event, prom, wedding, or a long drive with family and friends. The vehicle can accommodate features that are just not possible for a regular car. For instance, its length offers lots of space that can be used for different purposes and you can pack a lot of partiers inside it. Put simply, when it comes to attending an upscale event in and around San Francisco and you are planning to show up in style, there’s nothing can be a better alternative than hiring a black car service in San Francisco CA.
In this article, we’re going to discuss how you can ensure safety during a long drive by hiring a luxury limo service in San Francisco CA. But first, let’s have a look at why some experts think that limousines, especially the stretch ones, might present some safety concerns.
- Conversion process: While factory-built stretch limos are needed to meet stringent safety regulations, converted ones aren’t required to adhere to those guidelines. Many stretch limos are first cut in half and then lengthened, where panels, bolts are added by the converters together with performing some welding. And all the process is sometimes performed without any strict state inspection.
- Lack of regulations: When it comes to stretch limos, typical transportation protections aren’t available. For instance, they might not come equipped with accessible emergency exits, reinforced rollover protection bars, side-impact airbags etc – the absence of any of these could lead to a fatal incident in the event of an accident.
- Insufficient driver qualifications: If a new provider of airport limo service San Francisco CA fails to ensure proper driver qualifications or doesn’t perform a thorough background check, it could lead to a fatal accident. For instance, in the above-mentioned accident, the driver didn’t have the proper driver’s license to operate a limo, according to a report by CNN.
1- Why You Should Prefer A Limo Over A Metered Taxi For A Long Ride?
Hiring a black car service in San Francisco CA from an experienced provider might not be a cost-effective solution to renting a metered taxi but there are some significant reasons you should go with the former. Let’s have a quick look at the key ones.
- The limo company vouches for its drivers: Limo drivers are thoroughly interviewed by their employers, have their background checked, and their previous employers are also called for references. All these factors help to ensure that your limo driver is a safe and trusted individual to drive you and your closed ones. On the contrary, metered taxi drivers only need to have a valid driver’s license and insurance that can be updated online. No thorough interview is conducted ever with these drivers.
- Limo drivers can be held accountable: Your limo driver is an employee of the luxury limo service in San Francisco CA that you’re planning to hire. As employees, these drivers can be held accountable for the service that they provide to the clients. So, for the drivers, a lot is at stake if they don’t provide exemplary service to every client. On the other hand, metered taxi drivers only experience a “negative rating” if they provide poor service.
Limo drivers are trusted by the company: When you hire a black car service in San Francisco CA, it means you’ll be traveling with a trusted employee of the company. These individuals are pretty well-known to the entire company, from colleagues to bosses. But metered taxi drivers are complete strangers to the passengers. No one knows him or her you’re getting involved with. So, driving with a metered taxi driver is something like traveling with a complete stranger throughout your journey.
2- How You Can Be Safe When Using A Limousine For A Long Journey?
While all the above are serious concerns, we would still strongly suggest you to hire a luxury limo service in San Francisco CA when it comes to traveling a long way and you want to make the experience a class apart. However, it is needless to say that there are some safety precautions that you need to consider when hiring any black car service in San Francisco CA. Let’s have a look at what should be done on your part.
- Check driver credentials: If you hire a top-level limo service provider, you can rest assured that the drivers employed by it have completed pre-employment checks like criminal history and medical exams. These type of companies also train their drivers thoroughly so that they can provide client satisfaction at the highest level. Additionally, professional and trained drivers also maintain safety principles like cushions of safety, defensive driving etc. So, it’s always advisable to ask about driver credentials whether you are booking a luxury limo service in San Francisco CA for a long journey or an airport limo service San Francisco CA for traveling to and from the airport.
- Check DOT inspections: Vehicles that are capable of carrying over nine paid passengers have to be certified by the DOT (Department of Transportation). A rigorous inspection is done every six months together with an informal inspection between those periods. It’s a matter of fact that these days, limousines can be purchased by almost any tour operator but uninformed ones may launch a tour operation without having proper knowledge of vehicle regulations. And this could lead to a fatal accident. So, it would always be a good idea to ask your black car service in San Francisco CA whether its vehicles are DOT-inspected or not prior to hiring. The DOT website maintains a database of safety records for passenger carrier companies that you can use to check the luxury limo service in San Francisco CA you’re planning to hire. However, you’ll require the company’s name together with its USDOT number to get accurate information. Your preferred service provider should be ready to provide it. If it refuses to provide it, you should find another service provider to hire.
- Check if the vehicle is converted: If you’re planning to hire a stretch limousine, you should always ask the service provider whether the particular vehicle you’re going to hire is converted from a car or not. In this unregulated industry, a converted vehicle generally doesn’t come equipped with important safety measures like seat belts for all passengers and airbags.
- Check the car’s registration: Aside from checking the driver’s credentials, you should check the vehicle’s registration as well to ensure everything is up to date. If you see the vehicle the first time at the beginning of your journey, it could be a problem. And thus, it’s advisable to plan the pickup time sometime earlier than you need. It’ll help you have the time to demand a replacement if you don’t like what you see or are unsatisfied with.
- Get a referral: You can surely find lots of helpful reviews on different websites, but it’s always better to hear a review (positive or negative) from someone you trust and whose opinion matters to you. It’s a fact that people share negatives much more often than positives. So, if you’re planning to hire a luxury limo service in San Francisco CA and all you hear from your close people are negative things, you should look elsewhere.
Apart from checking the above factors out, you and your fellow travelers also adhere to some security guidelines. These include wearing a safety belt, following the rules set by your chauffeur, staying away from distracting the chauffeur, letting go of the attraction of having fun by hanging out of the sunroof and waving at passengers etc.
Parting Thoughts
As you can see, hiring a reputable black car service in San Francisco CA is always a better idea than hiring a metered taxi or driving yourself whenever you need to go for a long ride. After all, going for a long ride should always be stress-free and exciting. You should be focusing fully on enjoying yourself rather than wondering how you’ll reach your destination. And by renting a luxury limo service in San Francisco CA not only you’ll enjoy your ride but will be able to get to your destination in style as well. Also, if you’re traveling to the San Francisco airport for an important business trip, you should look for an airport limo service San Francisco CA to help yourself stay relaxed and get prepared for the upcoming event.
If you want a reputable limousine service for your next ride, contact the team at Pacific Town Car today!