Chauffeur car hire is by no means restricted to weddings and special events. Although popular events for hiring a car and chauffeur to make the bride and groom feel special there are plenty of other uses for them.
Many people feel the need for chauffeurs in everyday life due to extreme pressures of work load. Being chauffeured around while they sit in comfort allows them to continue making and receiving calls and working on their laptops in safety.
Being chauffeured around has always been a bit of a statement for celebrities. They like to make a point of how they have made it to the top of fame. However, more and more these days, celebrities are yearning for their independence and attempting to drive around alone. When you look at the examples of people like Britney Spears this is probably not such a good idea.
Royalty have always been chauffeured to public functions and events and quite often make use of this facility in their private lives too. Celebrities will even hire chauffeured cars to ferry their children to school because they feel this is a safer option.
Government officials and corporate executives are frequently to be seen in the back seat of a chauffeured car - unless it has blacked out windows. A favourite addition is also to use armoured cars for protection.
Bullet proof BMW's with extra strong protection in the body and on the windows is a must to protect, particularly in gun happy areas of the world such as the US.
The Pope is also among those chauffeured around in a bullet proof vehicle for protection. The Pope-mobile being one of the more famous bullet proof vehicles around.
It's easy to think that anybody can be a chauffeur in a car hired by the public, or even celebrities. Indeed, someone who drives another person about in a 'normal' car is just called a driver. However, a chauffeur, from the French word for driver, is expected to be the driver of a luxury car.
Many chauffeurs have taken part in special training. They are taught etiquette around their esteemed charges and are required to dress in very smart uniform at all times, often including a hat, tie and gloves.
Most importantly, they are taught special driving techniques to assess road conditions, foresee danger and avoid problems on the road with other vehicles or members of the public. Chauffeurs are taught how to anticipate dangerous situations and evade them.
They are taught to always have an exit route in mind, wherever they may be. This means they must stay alert at all times, constantly assessing the road ahead.
Chauffeurs partake in special training where they learn techniques to regain control of a vehicle once lost and how to bring the car to a safe stop even with a flat tyre. Avoidance of a problem is a much better way to handle a situation than to deal with the aftermath.
This is particularly important when you have other people's lives in your hands and not a duty a genuine chauffeur would take lightly.
