The Limos.com Forum Has Moved!!!

Leave it to Florida to Embarrass us again. First Limo Bob now this. Gunny you got to get these folks in line down there!!

To keep it fair & balanced:

Prosecutor is arrested in Tampa on DUI charge

A felony prosecutor with the Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney's Office was arrested Friday night and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol.
It is the second such arrest of a prosecutor from that office in the last six months.

Welcome To Florida!

OK, Not just Florida anymore! The limo industry must be on the rebound as it looks like we are scraping the bottom of the barrel to keep our cars rolling!

Thanks to Howard Harrisons News letter - Subscribe Here

Prom-night arrest leaves limo driver facing charges
The Virginian-Pilot April 25, 2005

A limousine driver chauffeuring Camden County students on prom night was arrested Friday after open beer cans were found in his car, according to the Camden County Sheriff’s Office.

Dwayne Grablewski, a driver for Oceanfront Limousine Service in Virginia Beach, was charged with having open alcohol containers and drug paraphernalia in the limo, according to an arrest warrant.

A bouncer at Levels in Elizabeth City informed the Sheriff’s Office that the driver was seen drinking before getting into the limo and driving to pick up students in Camden County, a written report provided by Sheriff Tony Perry said.

Grablewski was stopped after 11 p.m. in the Camden County High School parking lot after loading students for a ride to Duck, the report said. In a field test, his blood-alcohol concentration was 0.08 percent, the report said, and 0.05 percent later while in custody. The legal limit is 0.08 percent.

A search of the limo turned up a six-pack of beer with four empty cans, and a travel book tested positive for a trace of cocaine, the report said.

Calls to Oceanfront Limousine Service on Monday were not returned.

Grablewski, 40, was released Saturday from Albemarle District Jail after posting $500 bail. His first court date will be May 13.

Speaking of enemas:

As we're going through hell garnering support for a statewide vfh registration to help protect the public from idiots such as the infamous drunk limo driver;

Portable Toilets: A bill requiring portable restroom contractors to register with the Dept. of Health was passed 39-0 Thursday in the Senate. The proposal creates administrative penalties for failing to comply with state rules.

Well, you might not be safe jumping into a limo in Florida but they have your backsides covered when it comes to taking a dump!

Let me tell you something about the 10K State of Florida that I've observed since escaping NY some three years ago:
Old people sell their shacks in other parts of the country for a small fortune, move here, buy a place in a golf club gated community and wait to die. They don't give a s--t what's happening outside the gates and when they do venture past their enclave, it's to get away with as much as they can for the least amount of $$$$.
Younger idiots move down here to start a business or work in such high esteem places like Wal Mart (there are 3 super centers within 20 min of each other here). These idiots deal with competition by cut-throating each other.I told one landscaper bithchin' about how they were cutting lawns for $12.00 how stupid they were. What 70 year old deep pockets, country club living old man is going to go out in 90 degree, 90% humidity weather and cut his own grass? Businesses buy customers here and $5.00 is the price! $5. haircuts, $5.Pizzas, $5.buffets & grand kids think "Early Bird" is a special meal. Now mind you these brainiacs are from Jersey, New York, Boston, Michigan (nasty attitudes) and so on...
Now we have the Politicians and Government Officials who get away with whatever they want because the old farts locked behind the gates don't give a crap because they're going to die in a few years and the younger ones are too lazy & stupid to think for themselves.
I'm suing a Transportation Commission whereas a glorified "code inspector" making a whopping $30,000. a year came out and said to a friend of mine, "that I better have plenty of $$$ to spend 'cause the plan is to drag the case out". Like my whole livlihood depends on the ability to pick passengers up from the airport. The same Commission has publicly stated that they were there to protect the taxis. Took me 15 minutes to find out that the major cab company in Tampa is backed by an individual who also controls the market in several major cities (27 cab companies in all). Who in the hell are they really protecting? A State Senator straight out said that if we wanted movement on changing laws we needed to put a "grease the palm" fund together! My response to this is that I'll use my money to pay an attorney for some Federal Court action.
This whole State needs an "ENEMA".

Recent 60 minutes story:

If you ask Hiaasen why all of this stuff seems to happen in Florida, he gives a standard reply: "The most common answer that people give is if you took the continental United States and you tilted it a little bit, all the sludge would drip all the way down the peninsula, all the way down this highway … right past my house."

The tourists eventually go home. But for Hiaasen, the larger problem is the thousand people who move here every day. Most of them, he says, are either running to something or from something. Many of them are retirees looking for a slice of paradise, and some are predators who consider them prey.

Unfortunately, the craziness of Florida provides a certain anonymity to all sorts of wackos, even terrorists. And if the place wasn’t so dysfunctional, Hiaasen says maybe something could have been done about that.

"I was watching in the living room, and they started showing the pictures of Mohammed Atta and then the others in those photographs," says Hiaasen. "I said, 'I swear to God, those are Florida driver's licenses photographs.' At least nine of them, I believe, and possibly more had lived and worked and trained for their suicide mission here in Florida."

"And I always tell people, 'You think that was an accident? Where's the one place in the United States where the bar of bad behavior is so high that nobody's gonna notice these guys?'" adds Hiaasen. "Nobody's gonna think twice when they walk into a flight school and say, 'I'd like to get on a 757 simulator, but I don't need the part about where you land it. Just teach me how to fly it around.' And pay it in cash, and they say, 'Oh, right this way, Mr. Atta. Sit over here.'

"You know, the one guy, he goes to Minneapolis, he goes to Minnesota to learn and he's in jail in about 25 minutes. First I was surprised, and then it all made sense. It all makes sense when you think about it. Why not? Of course."

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/04/15/60minutes/main688458_page3.shtml

Crikies!! The kids made a segment on Good Morning America!
Kids on Good Morning America

And our fearless leader Chimed in with a solid quote that is sure to put any parents mind at ease!!

Sheesh it will be a wonder if we get any prom business this year!!

By Sandra Pedicini | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted April 18, 2005

Patrick Curley's high school buddies gathered around the television last week to see their national television debut.

The teenagers giggled as they watched themselves tell Good Morning America's Diane Sawyer how the limousine driver taking them to their prom last Saturday night was arrested and charged with driving under the influence. But Patrick's dad, Robert Curley, said he learned a serious lesson.

If he hires a limousine when his two younger sons attend their proms, he said, "I think we'd probably just do a little more due diligence on the company we get."

That may not be so easy.

Few local governments in Central Florida regulate drivers of vehicles for hire such as limousines, and even those that do have limited background checks. .

Christina Tomacelli, 49, the limo driver arrested April 9 while ferrying Patrick, 18, and other Winter Springs High School students to the prom, had a vehicle-for-hire driver permit from Orlando despite a 1992 DUI charge and traffic infractions.

Seminole County deputies arrested Tomacelli after Patrick used his cell phone to call his father from the limo to tell him about Tomacelli's erratic driving. The students, who persuaded Tomacelli to pull over, said she drove through stop signs, cut off traffic and couldn't figure out where she was going.

Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles records show Tomacelli had her license revoked for six months as a result of the DUI charge in Miami-Dade County. Her license was simultaneously suspended for a year because she refused to take a breath test.

Despite that incident and the more recent traffic infractions, Tomacelli in 2003 got the permit from Orlando, one of the few Central Florida governments that require special permits for limo and taxi drivers picking up passengers within city limits.

The city requires background checks of drivers with the goal of weeding out those who have been convicted of crimes including DUI, drug crimes or sex crimes. But the checks go back only five years and do not look outside Florida, said Curt Faust, a supervisor with Orlando's vehicle-for-hire program.

Faust said more extensive reviews "would be very costly for the drivers," who pay for them.

Osceola County also does background checks, and it has no time limit on how far back to check. However, the checks are limited to Florida.

Orange and Seminole counties have no permitting process althoughthe Orange County Convention Center requires permits, background checks and vehicle inspections for taxis.

"There really isn't much enforcement," said Randy Terranova, president of the Greater Orlando Livery Association. "Only when issues like this come about. Then everybody wants answers."

Francis J. Shane, executive director of the National Limousine Association, questioned whether a DUI many years ago should keep someone from driving for a limousine service today.

"If somebody had a DUI 15 years ago and has gone through treatment and has lived a straight life, are they never forgiven?" Shane said. "How many years are enough?"

Tomacelli had more recent tickets but those would not have had a bearing on whether she got a permit from the city, said Faust, whose employees focus more on catching and fining illegally operating taxis than limos.

Officials representing limo companies say they have tried -- and failed -- to get a statewide system of permitting and regulating drivers.

Even if a company doesn't operate in a place where drivers must get special permits, limo association officials say, insurance companies generally require a check of driving records. Business owners and insurance companies have an interest in making sure the drivers are safe, Shane said, because "these cars are expensive."

"You put unsafe cars on the street, you're not going to get repeat business. . . . The customer and the free-market system really regulates those limousines."

In 2003, Florida DMV records show seven cases in which the driver of an automobile transporting commercial passengers was found to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs when involved in a crash.

Parents rent prom-night limos as a safety precaution. Teens like them on prom night for the sophistication it adds to the event.

"It's real important that everybody be around when it drops them off and picks them up," Winter Springs High School Principal Michael Blasewitz said.

Limo association officials recommend that people hiring limos ask for references and make sure the company belongs to a trade organization, such as the Greater Orlando Livery Association. Elegant Limousine and A Selective Limousine & Transportation are members of the association, an Internet search indicates. They also can check with the city of Orlando, which keeps records of complaints against the limo companies it permits.

But sometimes, parents may not know who's really transporting their kids. The Curleys said they had contacted A Selective Limousine & Transportation and didn't realize that company, swamped with customers, turned the job over to Elegant Limousine of Altamonte Springs. Officials of both companies could not be reached for comment. Terranova said that during busy times such as prom season, companies will farm out jobs if they find themselves booked.

Some local middle schools have discouraged parents from renting limos for youngsters' year-end celebrations, primarily because they don't want students who can't afford them to feel left out. But high schools have taken a hands-off approach toward limos at the prom.

Seminole County school officials say they don't want to start evaluating limo companies.

"We've talked about it," Blasewitz said. "If we get into the business of recommending one service over another, we could set ourselves up for some liability. . . . What constitutes a good company today may not be a good company next week or next month or next year."

Still, some principals at schools with upcoming proms say they will warn students to make sure their limos are driven safely.

"I'm going to place an emphasis on that" at a pre-prom event Monday, Lyman High School Principal Frank Casillo said. "I will make note that, even though you're getting a limo and you feel you're in good hands, if you feel you're not, be responsible enough to ask them to pull off the road."

Sandra Pedicini can be reached at spedicini@orlandosentinel.com or 407-772-8033.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Steve W.,

quote:

Originally posted by Steve W.:
Porsche, Here is a Link:
Prom Story

thank you Steve! OH MY GOD WHAT AN IDIOT!!!! (not you steve...the driver!) Goodness...and the guy hangs up after being asked if he knew of her citations??? Did he NOT think it was going to go in the paper? LOL Ohhhh boy!
Not only that....but how can you let your driver go out looking the way she did.....in total disarray! YIKES!
Porsche

quote:

Originally posted by gunny:

quote:

Originally posted by GRANDEST MASTER PORSCHE!:
Posted by Gunny

quote:

I'm sure in the land of the Porsch, present a lady with a 10k bracelet it'll be thrown back in your face.

Gunny...was this a direct jab towards me???? If so, why? FYI I would NEVER give back anything someone has given me...I'm NOT that shallow. I also wear a bracelet that was hand made by my (at the time) 8 year old daughter that came out of her $5.99 jewelry making kid with string and beads....I wear it almost every day and I would YELL at my husband if he spent more than $20 on a piece of jewelry. I'm NOT a jewelry kind of gal. So I sure hope you were not directing that towards me.
Also, I've yet to find the article you all are talking about.
Porsche

No, No, No - the "land" of the Porsche, "California" esp Southern California. The land where I wished I was back on...

OK THEN....silly boy! LOL Clarify yourself when using my name ok? ! HA! LOL. COME ON BACK HERE!(to sunny Cali that is) What made you move away? Come on back and we'll have lunch....me, the hubby, you and your wife! We'll have a ball...and you'll find I'm actually very easy to get along with.
Porsche

quote:

Originally posted by GRANDEST MASTER PORSCHE!:
Posted by Gunny

quote:

I'm sure in the land of the Porsch, present a lady with a 10k bracelet it'll be thrown back in your face.

Gunny...was this a direct jab towards me???? If so, why? FYI I would NEVER give back anything someone has given me...I'm NOT that shallow. I also wear a bracelet that was hand made by my (at the time) 8 year old daughter that came out of her $5.99 jewelry making kid with string and beads....I wear it almost every day and I would YELL at my husband if he spent more than $20 on a piece of jewelry. I'm NOT a jewelry kind of gal. So I sure hope you were not directing that towards me.
Also, I've yet to find the article you all are talking about.
Porsche

No, No, No - the "land" of the Porsche, "California" esp Southern California. The land where I wished I was back on...

Porsche, Here is a Link:
Prom Story

quote:

Originally posted by LA Limousines (David):
Check out the mug shot.

She obviously takes care of herself.

WHO'S mug shot??
Porsche

Posted by Gunny

quote:

I'm sure in the land of the Porsch, present a lady with a 10k bracelet it'll be thrown back in your face.

Gunny...was this a direct jab towards me???? If so, why? FYI I would NEVER give back anything someone has given me...I'm NOT that shallow. I also wear a bracelet that was hand made by my (at the time) 8 year old daughter that came out of her $5.99 jewelry making kid with string and beads....I wear it almost every day and I would YELL at my husband if he spent more than $20 on a piece of jewelry. I'm NOT a jewelry kind of gal. So I sure hope you were not directing that towards me.
Also, I've yet to find the article you all are talking about.
Porsche

quote:

Originally posted by LA Limousines (David):
Check out the mug shot.

She obviously takes care of herself.

Let me tell everyone something that I discovered real fast about the Sunshine State (even that's a lie). When the wife and I moved here 3 years ago, one of the first things I noticed was all of these advertisements selling 10k jewlery. Now, in NY or I'm sure in the land of the Porsch, present a lady with a 10k bracelet it'll be thrown back in your face. One step above costume jewlery if you know what I mean. I call Florida the "10k State". Did a AP a few hours ago and right in front of me was a new model T.C. with HCPTC permits. The Driver dressed in jeans and a striped polo shirt. His hair looked as though he stuck his tongue on a live wire. That mug shot of the drunk limo driver is just the normal look here in the 10k State.

Check out the mug shot.

She obviously takes care of herself.

P- Go up to the watchumaycallit & view the news links.

quote:

Originally posted by Steve W.:
Leave it to Florida to Embarrass us again. First Limo Bob now this. Gunny you got to get these folks in line down there!!

Is this a continued post from another thread? Because I don't see an article.
thanks,
Porsche

Read the article and was amazed to see that after three years a DUI dissapears off a persons driving licence, over in the U.K. its on for 10 years, you don't need a Police check you just look at the licence and it gives you the info, I can't believe that after three past violations of DUI this driver did not have a permanant stain on their licence. The soloution here is to extend the DUI violation to show on licences a minimum of 10 years and add a further 5 years for each subsequent violation which should be listed on the drivers licence for all potential employers to see, yes it would have meant that this particular driver would not have been allowed to get behind the wheel of a Limousine but thats what safety for the public is about, isn't it ?

quote:

Originally posted by Steve W.:
Leave it to Florida to Embarrass us again. First Limo Bob now this. Gunny you got to get these folks in line down there!!

I jumped on this "fodder" for the cause. Unfortunately, it'll probally take someone driving into the path of a train or semi before these political idiots wake up and enact legislation to protect all of the public here in Florida.

OOPS! I just realized Limo Bob is in IL, Do not know why I thought he was in Florida, Maybe he just looks so Florida!!

My Aploogies
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.To Florida