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Brussels, Belgium — Van Hool, independent manufacturer of buses, coaches, and industrial vehicles, chose to equip four coaches exhibited at Busworld with Vision Systems’ solution Smart-Vision. This camera monitoring system is part of the many technological innovations integrated in Van Hool’s vehicles that reflect the company’s innovative strength, and was featured both the EX and TX range coaches on display at the exhibition.
Smart-Vision replaces the rearview mirrors with high-definition cameras and interior displays to offer optimized visibility and enhanced ergonomics. Compared with standard rearview mirrors, the interior displays eliminate glare and the automatic adjustment of the screens’ brightness ensures excellent visibility in all lighting conditions, at the entrance and exit of tunnels, night and day, in all weather, and in any driving environment. In addition to eliminating lateral blind spots, the solution provides functions such as the suppression of the A pillar blind spot, parking and maneuvering aid, guidance assistance, and security monitoring around the vehicle.
The EX range takes into consideration the comfort and safety of the passengers in an environmentally and economically responsible manner while achieving efficiency and elegance. Vision Systems’ Smart-Vision is fully in line with these needs. The removal of the mirrors lowers wind resistance for improved aerodynamics, which reduces fuel consumption by around 5 percent and CO2 emissions. It also reduces maintenance costs and down time linked to mirror breakage and offers a very modern design.
With the TX range—and more specifically the TDX Astromega double deck coach—the remit was to provide the driver with a level of comfort as high as that of the passengers. Vision Systems’ Smart-Vision responds to that expectation as it reduces the driver fatigue by offering extended visibility and more ergonomics.
“We are so proud to equip the vehicles of a leading bus manufacturer in Europe with our solution. Being part of Van Hool’s innovative equipment is very rewarding and totally in line with our commitment to drive continuous innovation as a key to value-creating differentiation while responding to comfort and safety issues,” stated David Le Berre, general manager of safety tech business unit, Vision Systems’ division dedicated to ADAS.
Visit vanhool.be or visionsystems.fr for more information.
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A packed room greeted the NLA membership meeting at the CD/NLA Show in Boston October 14
Marlton, N.J. — The National Limousine Association has announced the candidates for the 2020 NLA Board Election. These candidates' nominations have been verified, deemed eligible by the NLA Nominating Committee, and approved by NLA President Gary Buffo.
The NLA Board election is anticipated to begin Thursday, November 7, and will end December 4. The unique login credentials to cast votes will be emailed from info@limo.org to all eligible voting members at approximately 12 p.m. EST November 7. The election will close Wednesday, December 4, at 3 p.m. EST.
Please note that for the Northeast Region, the candidate with the highest number of votes is elected to a 3-year term. The candidate with the next highest number of votes will be elected to a 1-year term.
L to R: NLA President Gary Buffo of Pure Luxury Transportation, NLA Director Jason Kaplan of The Driver Provider, and NLA Treasurer Robert Alexander of RMA Worldwide Chauffeured Transportation
The candidates and their regions are as follows:
At-Large (One Open Seat): Matt Assolin of Nikko's Worldwide Chauffeured Transportation and Michael Spreadbury of Helena Town Car
Central (One Open Seat): Ken Carter of Aadvanced Limousines and Stephen Qua of Company Car & Limousine
Northeast (Two Open Seats): Jay Erlich of Europe Limousine, Douglas Rydbom of Premier #1 Limousine, and Douglas Schwartz of Executive Limousine
Southeast (One Open Seat): Rick Versace of A1A Airport & Limousine Service
West (One Open Seat): Gary Buffo of Pure Luxury Transportation
The NLA also held a members-only meeting during the CD/NLA Show in Boston October 14, where topics of discussion included the upcoming election, the ongoing talks regarding a partnership between the NLA and The Transportation Alliance (formerly the Taxicab, Limousine & Paratransit Association), and opportunities for in-person discussion about the details of initiatives like the Chauffeur Driven/NLA partnership that was formalized earlier in the year and the No Operator Left Behind program, which is a two-part effort between both the NLA and Limo U.
The meeting was only open to current members in good standing, as they would be voting on the association’s recently updated bylaws. Some minor revisions had been made, which were approved during the meeting. The newly updated bylaws can be read in full here.
Additionally, the NLA welcomed more than 30 new members throughout the course of the show.
Visit limo.org for more information.
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NELA President Jason Dornhoffer of United Private Car (left) with GBTA COO/Executive Director Scott Solombrino
Boston —When the New England Livery Association (NELA) hosted a breakfast meeting at the CD/NLA Show October 14, it brought along a guest speaker who held the rapt attention of the nearly 100 association members and supporters who came from all across the country to fill up the meeting space.
After NELA Executive Director Rick Szilagyi opened up the meeting by thanking attendees and the day’s sponsors (Lancer Insurance, Research Underwriters, and Vehicle Tracking Solutions) alike, he discussed the three primary tenets of the association: advocacy, fostering a sense of community within the industry, and providing education to members for the benefit of the overall luxury ground transportation landscape.
To underscore the education point, Szilagyi then introduced the meeting’s featured speaker Andrew Card, who served as Chief of Staff under George W. Bush during September 11, 2001, and was thrust into the national spotlight after the iconic image spread of him notifying the then-president about the attacks while Bush read to a classroom of second-grade children.
NELA Executive Director Rick Szilagyi
“I wanted to be the Chief of Staff nobody knew, I wanted to be Mr. Invisible,” Card began. “Then September 11 happened, and everyone knows me: I’m the guy who whispered in the president’s ear.”
Card then spoke for the majority of the meeting, detailing what the day was like from the president’s and his perspective, focusing on the lessons he learned about leadership under pressure and effective management in the face of a crisis. He began by recalling the feelings that the terrorist attack invoked in every American that day, then asked the audience to consider what it was like to grapple with that helplessness, horror, and confusion as a citizen while still successfully upholding the duties of the presidential office.
He detailed how the day began unassumingly enough, right on down to a morning CIA briefing that suggested nothing was out of the ordinary—except for news of a plane crash in New York City, the details of which were still vague and seemingly unremarkable beyond a U.S. Navy captain’s report attributing the accident to a small twin-propeller airplane.
What the president and his staff first assumed was a pilot who suffered a mid-air heart attack and subsequently crashed into a New York City building soon crystalized into something far more deliberate and sinister as news started pouring in. Card knew he was obligated to update President Bush on the dire developments, referring to his government-issued “What to do in case of…” card and relying on his experience to inform the Commander in Chief without visibly alarming him or the youngsters in his company, or encouraging a prolonged dialogue that would only rouse everyone’s suspicions that something was horribly wrong.
Members of the NELA Executive Board with the meeting’s guest speaker Andrew Card (center)
“I knew I had to be cool, calm, and collected to do the job right when I walked into the room,” Card recalled. “When the students bent down to retrieve their copies of ‘My Pet Goat,’ I went to him and said ‘A second plane hit the towers. America is under attack.’ Then I walked away. And the president did nothing to scare those second-graders or betray what he must have been thinking to the media present as we figured out how to exit without causing a scene.”
Card, the president, and the rest of the staff and Secret Service soon headed back to D.C., unaware that the reason they couldn’t get in touch with the Department of Defense was because the Pentagon was also hit until they flew over the billowing plumes of acrid smoke in a Marine One that was flying at tree-level zig-zags so as to avoid any possible missile strikes that may be targeting the president’s plane. After delivering a short address on the White House’s South Lawn, President Bush, Card, and others were ushered into a bunker deep below 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., where they would remain until they received the all-clear.
“September 11 changed everything and we’re still dealing with it,” Card said. “But it was September 14 that was my most memorable day as Chief of Staff. That was the day the president addressed each cabinet member before him, reminding them that we are at war but that we still have to govern in these times.”
Three days later, Card accompanied the president on a trip to Ground Zero after President Bush demanded that everyone who attended that morning’s CIA briefing detail how they were going to prevent another attack on American soil, as that would also be the FBI’s new mission. In New York City, Card described a scene of hope amid chaos, with families of missing medical professionals, firemen, police, first responders, search crews, and civilians crowding the Wall Street area for any shred of news that would allay their fears. Card recalled how the president refused to treat the scene like a press opportunity or be sheltered from the full scope of the tragedy, as President Bush “took pictures with anyone who asked, pet every search-and-rescue dog, and thanked everyone he spoke with during those two hours of hugs, prayers, and tears.”
Andrew Card, former Chief of Staff for President George W. Bush, was the featured speaker at NELA’s breakfast meeting at the CD/NLA Show in Boston October 14
But it was an intimate moment between President Bush and a hopeful mother that stayed with Card and, in his eyes, exemplified what a leader is supposed to do in emotional times.
“As we’re getting ready to leave, a woman who had been one of the first people the president greeted when he approached him, looked into his eyes, and held out her hand. ‘Mr. President, this is my son’s badge. His name is George Howard. Don’t ever forget him.’ And with tears streaming down his cheeks—everyone was crying—the president took George’s badge, squeezed it, looked at this small, courageous woman, and said, ‘Mrs. Howard, America will forget. They’ll start to move on. But don’t worry about me. I will never forget George Howard’,” Card remembered.
He added that when they returned to Marine One at the end of the day, Card and the president sat across from each other and Card mused that President Bush “did everything a president is supposed to do in just one day: He changed the mission of the FBI, governed in a time of war, prayed with citizens, told the world they’ll hear us, and comforted the victims.”
Card then turned the topic to the politics of today, an environment he called “toxic” but not without hope. He left his audience with a message of how anyone can stand up and be a leader, role model, and catalyst for positive change even in the most difficult times.
“If you’re a cynic, chances are that you’re not listening,” he observed. “Our democracy is THE democracy for the world. Our democracy is tarnished right now, and it’s up to you to polish it.”
The next NELA meeting will be its December 10 holiday meeting.
Visit nelivery.org for more information.
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