Danger Can Lurk Beneath Limo's Glamour

May 18, 2006 — -- Prom season -- and wedding season -- is here, which means lots of limousines will be rented. Limos are glamorous, but if the company you choose isn't properly registered or insured and the driver isn't properly licensed, your trip could be dangerous instead.

"Good Morning America's" consumer correspondent Elisabeth Leamy went undercover with Virginia DMV special agents, looking for unlicensed, unsafe limos. Out of the 29 cars the police checked that night, nine were in violation and racked up a total of 22 citations.

In Virginia on prom nights, limos encounter dozens of DMV police checkpoints where they must present their driver's license, registration and trip sheet. This state conducts one of the most aggressive limo safety enforcement programs in the country.

"Well, they ultimately could be involved in a very serious accident and the children could perish because of that," said Virginia DMV official Bruce Taylor. "And that's what we're trying to avoid."

Virginia requires drivers to have a special license if they want to drive the super-long cars. The cars themselves need to have a safety inspection sticker, which is the public's guarantee that the vehicle is well-maintatined.

Overcrowding is another safety hazard. Some limousine companies try to make extra money by carrying more passengers than their cars are designed for. To find out how many passengers the car is supposed to hold, count the number of seatbelts.

Police are also checking for alcohol. In Virginia, it's illegal for a limo to carry any alcohol if the passengers are underage. On the night that Leamy went with the police, they administed a sobriety test to a driver they thought had been drinking. He had a chilled sixpack of beer in his trunk.

This was upsetting to a mother riding in one of the limos as a chaperone for the prom-goers.

"I mean that just tells me something, that you can't trust them," Karoline Hurd said. "It's something that we all want to and hope to do, but that's scary."

The police found out that the driver works for a company that was stripped of its operating authority because it wasn't insured. The car the driver is using is his personal car and isn't even registered as a limousine.

The Virgina DMA police issued five different citations to the driver. It was the most serious case of the night. Prom or no prom, this limousine is out of service -- or so we thought. Later that night the same driver returned -- in the same car, which he had to go get from the impound lot -- and tried to pick the students up. So they charged him all over again.

Limo Safety Tips

Most companies are trustworthy and want to give you a safe ride. Here are some tips to make sure you end up with a good limo and driver.

Verify that the limousine company is properly registered and insured before you sign up.

Check the company's reputation with the Better Business Bureau and your county and state consumer protection offices. It also helps if the company belongs to the local limousine association.

Ask the company how it screens its drivers and how long your chauffeur has been driving.

Take a look at the actual vehicle you're hiring, count the seatbelts, look for inspection stickers and maybe even write down the VIN so the company doesn't switch vehicles on you.

And finally, get every detail of your transaction in writing -- especially the cancellation clause, because some companies keep your deposit if you cancel and some charge for the time and mileage to get to your pick up point.

ABC News's Elisabeth Leamy reported this story for "Good Morning America."