The Maryland Public Service Commission doesn’t know which flowers would look best in your daughter’s corsage. It can’t recommend any dance moves to bust on the dance floor at senior prom, and it has no advice for finding the perfect gown.
But the government regulatory agency is asking Maryland teens to exercise caution when reserving limousines for the big night, warning that unlicensed vehicles try to garner promgoers’ business.
Without the proper safety inspections, these unregulated limos can put teens in danger, and the public safety commission has dispatched inspectors to shut down their business.
“Prom time is one of the busiest times of year in the limo business, and it’s a time as well when people who don’t normally use limousines use limousines,” Douglas Nazarian, chairman of the commission, told The Washington Examiner. “We want prom night to be special, like it’s supposed to be.”
There are 560 limousines licensed in Maryland, including 325 that hold eight passengers or more. By law, any company advertising limousine services must be registered and certified by the commission.
Nazarian is unsure how many unlicensed limousines are operating in Maryland, but said the main danger is safety: Unlicensed vehicles evade the state’s safety inspections, meaning what looks like a chariot could have the engine of a lawnmower.
Additionally, the agency is warning that licensed limousine brokers might refer parents and students to an unlicensed limousine company. Promgoers can check for licensure at each step on the commission’s website.
“People who normally follow what we do see more action in the world of electricity or gas or televisions — believe it or not, we still regulate a bridge,” Nazarian said. “But transportation is a significant part of what we do, and the safety of the riding public is at stake in a lot of ways.”
Sheri Verdonk, the PTSA president and parent of a junior at Montgomery Blair High School, said she’s not too well-versed in limousine decisions but knows that many Blair teens take “party buses” to travel in big groups to prom. Afterward, about 800 students hit up the PTSA-sponsored alcohol-free after-prom.
No, the public service commission can’t plan your daughter’s post-prom, either.
“And I think my 10-year-old daughter would tell you I was unqualified to offer fashion advice,” Nazarian said.
