Presidential Motorcade Halted After Lead Limo “Bottomed Out”

By San Francisco Limousine Specialist on June 4, 2011

There has been lots of presidential limo news in the mix recently, and it’s our job as the premier San Francisco limousine service to deliver it! Here is the latest development in the Obama administration limousine saga. During his recent trip to Ireland, the President’s motorcade came to a halt when the lead limo bottomed out while exiting the driveway of the U.S. Embassy in Dublin. Security cameras mounted outside the Embassy recorded the unexpected hitch in the presidential itinerary as Secret Service personnel piled out of different limousines to inspect the problem.

They found that the lead limo became hung up as it exited the steep driveway and that the weight of the heavily armored vehicle made it very difficult to dislodge. It was effectively immobilized and completely unable to move backwards or forwards. Passengers were relocated to other limos in the motorcade. President Obama, reportedly riding in the second limo in the motorcade, was not affected by the holdup. He and other members of the group left the Embassy grounds through another exit. The Secret Service has not revealed how the limo was freed from the driveway.

Here in San Francisco, we’re very familiar with the perils of bottoming out vehicles, and few sounds elicit that sickening feeling in the pit of a car owner’s stomach like the crunch of a chassis and oil pan meeting pavement at the bottom of a hill or driveway. This is one of the many reasons why we instruct our chauffeurs to exercise extra care when driving around the Bay Area as our hilly landscape has cracked many chassis and shredded many oil pans.

Although we take very good care of the Bay Area limousines in our fleet, our first priority is always the safety and comfort of our guests. In the movies, a limousine barreling down a San Francisco street and throwing sparks as it bottoms out may look great and create excitement, but it makes for a most unpleasant ride for anyone in the back. It is our goal to create a very different kind of excitement for our guests, the excitement of having an absolutely wonderful time in the spacious, comfortable interiors of our limos!

We love to honor our guests’ requests, but hurtling down a San Francisco hill at top speed is not one that we can or will accommodate. However, if you have a special request to make your San Francisco limo experience unique, fun and memorable, just ask! If you need a luxurious limo rental for an upcoming special event, please fill out our contact form for a prompt reply or give us a call at NLS Limo at 1-800-339-8936.