The high-speed crash that killed Princess Diana has thrown a harsh spotlight on how well-prepared chauffeurs are to handle aggressive photographers and others who prey on those in the limelight.
But, according to security experts, most celebrities set few criteria for their drivers other than being able to handle the car and having a charming personality.
“My experience is that a person will spend $150,000 to $200,000 on a limo and then spend no money on training the person to drive it,” said Jerry Hoffman, president of International Training, a Cincinnati-based company that provides security services, builds armored cars and trains drivers.
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“The driver is hired based on how friendly he is,” he added. “How do you expect a driver to change his driving mentality and transform the car into a weapon if needed?”
The 36-year-old princess, her friend Dodi Fayed and the car’s driver, Henri Paul, were killed early Sunday when Paul lost control of the armor-plated Mercedes-Benz as it was being pursued by a group of paparazzi and slammed into a wall near the Pont de l’Alma bridge in Paris. The impact of the crash froze the speedometer at the kilometer equivalent of 121 m.p.h., and French officials later reported that Paul had three times the legal level of alcohol in his blood.
California’s Music Express, one of several limousine companies that offer their drivers training in evasive maneuvers, teaches chauffeurs how to quickly and safely switch lanes to elude a pursuer. Drivers are discouraged from breaking the law, or putting themselves, or other drivers in jeopardy.
“We teach them defensive driving techniques–they should always keep their mind and eyes open to what’s going on around them,” said Jim Baron, vice president of operations for the Burbank-based company.
“Our recommendation to chauffeurs who think they are being followed is to find a cop or a police station. This idea of driving 120 m.p.h. is stupidity.”
The Bob Bondurant driving school in Chandler, Ariz., mainly teaches race-car driving, but also trains limo drivers in anti-terrorist and defensive-driving strategies.
The school teaches “evasive maneuvers, how to drive around situations instead of braking and stopping. Cars turn better than (they) stop,” said Mike McGovern, chief instructor for the school.
In anti-terrorist training, he said, students are taught how to ram cars to get through or around road blocks and where to strike another car to make it spin out so that it stops the pursuit.
As they analyze the crash that killed Diana, security experts say that the bodyguard who was critically wounded in the crash, should have detected that the chauffeur had been drinking and stopped the passengers from getting into the car.
Or, at the very least, he should have pressured the driver to stay within the speed limit.
They also believe Diana should have used her own security team, instead of Fayed’s. His security plan, they said, seemed to be thrown together at the last minute.
And the security force should have used a “tail car” or a “follow-up” vehicle that could have provided a buffer between the Mercedes Diana and Fayed were in and the paparazzi, they said.
The purpose of the tail car, experts say, is to ward off pursuers, much like a football player runs interference for a running back carrying the ball.
“They block or create interference,” said Bill Cotter, a security specialist at the U.S. Secret Service office in Chicago. “They prevent any unauthorized person from getting too close.”
Few celebrities bother with tail cars, but they have been used extensively by members of organized crime, who call them “crash cars,” and often to protect dignitaries.
Security experts say that Diana’s efforts to lead a more normal life may have been her undoing.
As a member of the royal family, Diana was entitled to top-notch security that, besides a VIP limo, would have included a lead car and a tail car.
But after her divorce from Prince Charles, Diana opted for a scaled-down force.
Though Diana’s bodyguard was with her when she left the Paris restaurant, she was depending on Fayed’s chauffeur and vehicle. Experts say the driver was not up to providing the level of security that Diana deserved.
This left Diana vulnerable, experts said, because neither she nor her bodyguard could exercise any authority over the chauffeur.
“If you’re a bodyguard and you cannot draw the line you’re not doing your job,” said Shaun McCarthy, director for special operations at Kroll Associates in Los Angeles.
“He’s got to have a strong personality to be able to say, `What you’re doing now will put us at risk,’ ” added McCarthy, who was a bodyguard to a former South African ambassador to Madrid.
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Having paparazzi snap your picture may be a nuisance, he said, but it’s not comparable to being chased by terrorists and therefore not worth the risk of trying to outrace them on a city street.