Raleigh, N.C.—The ugly head of Uber (and the other ridesharing apps) has reared itself in the Raleigh/Durham area as of late. As with the majority of other industry associations, North Carolina Limousine Association (NCLA) members are up arms in regard to Uber’s lack of compliance to long-standing regulations which allows undercutting of prices while using substandard and dangerous practices. And, like the other associations, the NCLA operators want the rogue apps out of their respective cities and towns.
Mark Mazza of HUB International offered his input, stating: “The answer is to crack down on the lack insurance coverage they carry. That is how several cities like Seattle and Miami had them removed from their areas.” Mazza intends on sending NCLA members more information on how other localities have limited ridesharing apps from doing business in their areas.
Rene Lawson of Northland Insurance gave an enlightening presentation on the dangers of distracted driving. The thrust of the presentation was that studies show that hand held devices are the most prevalent cause of driver distraction. The largest percent of accidents are a result of drivers being distracted by hand held devices. An accident is four times more likely to occur when the driver is engaging in usage of a hand-held device.
The best way for chauffeured ground transportation company managers and owners to combat this is to implement a policy for no cell phone usage. Unfortunately, this is not entirely possible in our technology reliant industry. Lawson offered a few suggestions for limiting driver distractions:
- * Implement vehicle tracking and dash cams in your vehicles to lessen the necessity for contacting your chauffeur while driving.
- * Set company policies in place for limits and guidelines for hand held device usage for when your chauffeur is driving.
- * Limit your conversation with chauffeurs until the vehicle is not in motion.
- * Encourage your chauffeurs to pre-load common activities and/or phrases (such as “on site” and “in car”) into their phones and tablets so that messages may be conveyed prior to the vehicle being in motion.
- * Implement a “three strikes” policy for repeat offenders of unnecessary handheld device usage while driving.
Lawson closed out the presentation by stating, “Regardless of what method you use to curtail distracted driving, planning ahead is key and will surely lessen undesired situations and expenses from arising.”
Visit nclimo.org for more information.
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