NLA Launches Ride Responsibly™ Campaign to Establish Industry-Wide Best Practices

New York, N.Y. — The National Limousine Association (NLA) recently announced the launch of Ride Responsibly™ (rideresponsibly.org), an advocacy campaign to establish best safety practices and guidelines for prearranged car services and transportation network companies (TNCs), which include ride-hailing/ride-booking application-based car services, such as Uber, Lyft, Sidecar, and Whisk. The critical and urgent need for the Ride Responsibly™campaign is underscored by the results of a recent online survey conducted by Harris Poll commissioned by NLA. The announcement was made by President Gary Buffo of Pure Luxury Limousine.

“The stimulus for the Ride Responsibly™ campaign is the mushrooming number of reports in the media of incidents committed by car service drivers against passengers,” says Buffo. “The lack of standardized federal, state, and local rules and regulations for ride-hailing/ride-booking application-based car services have made it apparent that there is a critical need to enact and enforce reliable safeguards for drivers and passengers alike. The results of the recent NLA survey made it clear that decisive action, definitive guidelines, and regulatory standards need to be established.”

The online survey, conducted by Harris Poll earlier this year encompassing approximately 2,000 adults ages 18+, shows that 73 percent of Americans would not use ride-hailing apps if they were not safe, even if they were convenient. However, only 21 percent of Americans actually feel safe when using chauffeured car services including taxis, limousines, and ride-hailing apps. These results speak to how much passengers value safety in private ground transportation. The poll results further indicate that 88 percent of Americans believe that it is important to know if their driver has had a background check, and 81 percent of Americans believe it is important to have privacy protection from car service drivers. Results also demonstrate an astounding 84 percent of Americans believe that there should be set fares regardless of traffic conditions.

 Ride Responsibly™ will establish voluntary standards and practices to act as a resource that equally addresses the safety and needs of prearranged ground transportation services and ride-hailing/ride-booking applications.  The program will focus on educating the industry and public about regulations, legislation and best practices within the industry. The goal is to empower and inform the public at large, and drivers and operators alike with the necessary tools to Ride Responsibly™.

Visit rideresponsibly.org for more information.

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