Safety Guaranteed - Really?

I became an executive chauffeur following the poor experiences I had in the past when I was travelling in the back of cars with other people driving, during my previous career in corporate.

This propelled me to offer a very different way of travelling where we actually guarantee that travel with us will be safe and comfortable in the knowledge that we are legal and reliable. This means that our clients have a stress free journey with us every time.

So, I thought I without trying to state the obvious, what does it mean to be safe, and then in future articles, I will elaborate into being comfortable, legal and then finally reliable. There will be some points made along the ay that are actually not the obvious, so it will be worth while checking in on these articles. I quite literally, hope you enjoy the ride of this mini series!

The Safety Guarantee

Can we really guarantee safety, when we all hear about road traffic accidents just about every day? In the news recently as I write this, is the Duke of Edinburgh who was involved in a motor accident, so none of us are without risk.

What I can say, is that as far as is in our chauffeurs control, we will drive in a way that does guarantee your safety.

Even when we walk down a street, we cannot guarantee that we will not be hit by a flying object, or anything else - so I think we have the correct perspective on the subject.

Advanced Driving

Yes, driving safely does come back to the Advanced and Masters driving qualifications that currently myself and all our future executive chauffeurs are required to have. In fact, our wedding car chauffeurs have all qualified as Advanced Drivers. Although some of this very different driving style is also common sense, it is good to describe how our chauffeurs drive, whether for wedding car service or for that which I am focussing on more in this article, our executive chauffeur service.

Fit to Drive

Whenever you agree to travel with us, you can be assured that none of our chauffeurs will have taken any alcohol at all within 24 hours of driving for you. This is more than the legal requirement, which permits driving as long as the driver is below certain limits. We believe that our clients deserve more respect and looking after so we operate a zero tolerance rule on alcohol without exception. 

Additionally, our chauffeurs will not have drinks for use by them while they are driving and they will not eat food whilst driving. We ensure that they are focused on their driving and not the crumbs they are dropping etc.

Being a chauffeur requires us to be driving at all times both day and night, so one obvious question is how to stay awake and alert when driving through the early hours of the morning at night time. I have already written an article about his entitled  “How to be fresh as a daisy when night driving”, but needless to say, we only take on work when we know we will have enough time to plan sleep before and after night driving.  

Mobile phones will not only be on silent but will also be disconnected from the car system, so they are not distracted. No phone calls will be made when they have clients on board.

Observation

One of the key training skills learnt during the Advanced and Masters qualifications is observation. This includes checking what is going on in the road at the limit point of vision (explained in my earlier article “So, What's in the Masters?”) and also in the immediate vicinity. It also, includes having 180 degree vision, so constantly scanning not only ahead but also from side to side as well as behind. This ensures that very little can take the chauffeur by surprise, if anything at all. Therefore, braking can be a gradual and planned experience instead of a sudden reaction.

Safe distances

The training our chauffeurs receive, is to learn the safe stopping distances, which are listed below from The Highway Code:

Above 70 mph, you guessed it, our chauffeurs do not do that, as the maximum speed is 70 mph in the UK!

The above stopping distances are those recommended in dry conditions, whereas wet weather requires double the above and ice significantly more!

I am also aware that the above guidelines were written before ABS and other braking aids, but safety is about erring on the side of caution and reducing the risk of an incident wherever possible, after all, how valuable is someones life !

Braking

The best grip on the road when braking is always going to be when travelling in a straight line, so our chauffeurs will plan to slow down to the correct speed to take the hazard, whether a corner or otherwise, before entering that hazard. This ensures that there is minimal risk of a skid happening with the potential of losing control. 

Naturally, this is even more important during adverse weather conditions. If a situation arises during mid-corner braking, our chauffeurs will brake progressively to avoid locking the wheels - this is a skill where our chauffeurs will actually feel for the moment to release the brake pressure before the wheels lock up.

Tyre Condition

Due to the amount of miles done in a month, averaging 4,000, it is necessary for us to check the tyres condition which also includes the tread depth and tyre pressures. This is done several times a week when we are very busy and at the very least every time we refuel. This ensures that the grip on the road is the best it can be, and therefore stability on the road is good.

Courtesy to Clients

Although I am sure this topic would interest our clients, how does this relate to safety I hear you ask?

Quite simply, it is about the little touches, so for instance, our chauffeurs as they welcome you, they will open the car doors and invite you to enter, while they then load any luggage in the boot. At the end of the journey, they will say that they will ‘get’ the doors, and be the first to get out of the car and check that it is safe to open the door(s) for you, avoiding any traffic that could cause an accident.

Indicators

Too often on the road, we all have noticed that some cars do not seem to have working indicators. Or could it be a functionality that many drivers are not using these days?

In any case, our chauffeurs will use indicators appropriately when switching lanes or turning off a road onto another one. This gives other road users and pedestrians the knowledge that the car is changing direction.

Even in the night and if there is little traffic, indicators will be used when changing lanes on the motorway - this at least, gives you our client, the knowledge that changing lanes was deliberate, and helps to give you confidence that our chauffeur’s attention hasn’t dropped or worse!

There are indeed many other aspects of safety, but the above are the key ones that we focus on. Nothing has been mentioned about the safety functionalities of the Jaguars that we drive. Today’s modern vehicles have many inbuilt safety features which re increasing all the time as technology develops. While our chauffeurs will use the technology available, the above mentioned are fundamental to our service and therefore, our guarantee.

Next time I will elaborate how we guarantee that you our client and passenger will be comfortable. 

Lost!

Have you ever lost a significant and expensive item?

Well, this week’s blog is about the time when I was collecting some clients from Heathrow Terminal 5. 

All was going so well and following my SMS to my clients they ordered from me their preferred coffee choice, I queued up at the Cafe Nero in Arrivals and sent another SMS to them saying I was in the coffee queue.

Although my back was turned, I was unaware that they had just come through Arrivals and as I turned, there they were - they had no difficulty finding me as once again, I was the only one wearing a chauffeurs cap.

They were pleased to see me and I was able to present them with their coffees.

We proceeded towards the lifts and after I paid for the parking, we walked the short distance to the car, with me pushing one luggage trolly and they had the other one. All going so well.

I opened the doors for them, and then loaded the luggage into the car. We were soon on the way back.

They were getting comfortable in the back of my car, and I progressed through the terminal and safely negotiated the airport traffic - this can be quite a challenge for those not used to it.

Onto the M4 we went and then, it struck me……………….

My iPad. Oh no, I left it on the luggage trolley. It was then that I felt really uncomfortable, as I already knew my clients needed to be back at their place for a meeting that afternoon, and besides that, I was never going to let them know what I had just done - the level of service and our branding is after all, stress free for our clients. All I wanted to do, was get off the M4 on the next junction and go back and pick my iPad up - after all I knew exactly where I left it. All I could do was pray like mad that it was safe.

We continued on the M4 for the 90 mile journey until my clients were safely delivered to their home, totally unaware of what was going on in my mind.

Next stop for me was LHR T5, again!

Keeping to the speed limits, I got there in good time and managed to park in exactly the same place as I was earlier, but there was no iPad to be seen. Not happy!

Next stop, Lost Property. Their response was to record the details on a form and face the reality that it was most probably stolen. 

I went back home with what it felt like, my tail between my legs. That was Thursday.

Saturday morning, I still had heard nothing from Heathrow, and I said to my family, that I am going to get another iPad and cut my losses. It was then that my daughter Hannah, suggested I call Heathrow, so I did, expecting the worse.

To my utter astonishment, they were asking questions like, ‘what picture is on the front?’ When I said my silver Jaguar, they then asked the model number and after I told them, they then confirmed that they had my iPad!

The relief and surprise was tangible. Overjoyed and I went back to Heathrow that afternoon.

After negotiating my way to Lost Property, I was reunited with my iPad and I can honestly say thank God, and the Heathrow staff who found it and went through their procedures to log it correctly.

Lesson learnt - or I just hope I have!

Red Sun and Sand Storm

What an amazing week it has been! We have been exceptionally busy and the weather has been extraordinary.

I have been working hard on marketing, especially on LInkedIn, which is a big thing for me seeing as my background was being an accountant for my first 20 years of working life (refer to my earliest blogs), but during the last week, have been busy on the following:

• Friday 13th Pickup a business person from our local area and take to LHR returning late in the evening

• Saturday 14thWedding in Keynsham with the same car as the day before, followed by reception at Ston Easton Park Hotel - meaning early start 8:30 and back around 3:30 just in time to go to our youngest grand daughters 1st birthday party

• Sunday 15thMoonraker Whitewed Wedding Show at Bradford on Avon meaning another early start with Steve, one of our wedding car chauffeurs. Return at 5pm ready to be out again in the evening playing my guitar at church

• Monday 16th Last minute arrangement to pick up an elderly lady who travelled down from Scotland and arrived at Bristol Airport to visit family and bring back to our town. More on this story below.

• Tuesday 17th Lighter day, but a pre-run with my daughter Hannah, when we did the journeys that I will be doing for the Cotswolds wedding tomorrow

• Wednesday 18th Early BNI weekly meeting at 6:45, followed by a lighter day but focussed on marketing

• Thursday 19th Last minute request, meaning an early start at 5am to pick up a business person from Melksham, take to LHR and then a trip to Bath Apple Store to replace my new phone which I dropped a week ago. This is the only phone I have ever dropped, but thankfully I took out Apple Care Plus! Arrived home at 3pm.

So what was different about the Bristol run? It was the day the birds went silent, and the sun shone red and the wind deposited sheds of ‘Sahara’ sand everywhere. It was a very eery experience!

Before I left our base as on every occasion, including the 5am start on the Thursday run, my Jaguar XFS was immaculate, but by the time I arrived near Bristol Airport, when I got out one mile from the airport, I check the car over. 

The car was covered in a dusty film of sand. I had 45 minutes before the scheduled landing time. No time to spare, I just did what I do - I got out my detailing wax spray in the high winds, and cleaned the car off, including the wheels and the door frames.

I then proceeded to the airport short stay parking area, and entered the terminal. I then received an SMS saying the client would probably be last off the plane as she is an ‘assistance passenger’. 

With that knowledge, I approached the assistance desk and inquired about where I could bring my car closer to make it easier for my client. 

I was then able to move the car much closer.

On every journey whether for a wedding or executive travel, our thoughts are for the client on how we make the experience more restful and stress free for them - every time.

There is much pleasure for us in doing this and I trust makes the journey much easier and restful for our clients, whatever is thrown at us, sand and all!

Were you affected by the sand storm at all - feel free to post comments at the foot of this blog.