Chauffeuse f (plural chauffeur, male chauffeur). A chauffeur is a person employed to drive a motorized passenger vehicle, especially a luxury vehicle, such as a large sedan or limousine. The legal requirements to be a driver vary by local jurisdiction and vehicle class. However, there are still some statutory restrictions that apply to female drivers, including the imposition of a fine for driving only with male passengers.
You'll need to have a valid license, and then you only need to apply for it from a company that hires personal chauffeurs. A big step forward for women in the travel industry has been in Saudi Arabia, where they lifted the ban on women's driving. In many places (or sometimes in the past), the driver has an adequate physical presence at all times. Only the richest could afford the first cars and generally employed drivers instead of driving themselves.
A variety of chauffeur benefits are cited, including convenience, productivity and time savings, and driving safety for business people and seniors. Originally, these drivers were often personal employees of the vehicle owner, but this has changed to specialized chauffeur service companies or individual drivers who provide both the driver and the rental vehicle. Having women drivers as separate selectable service banks is based on the idea that women feel safer when driven by women. The driver also performed maintenance on the car, including routine maintenance and cleaning, and had to be an expert mechanic to deal with tire breakdowns and punctures on the road, which were very common in the early years of the car.
Many companies and local licensing agencies currently require random drug testing; in the United States, this was especially the case after professional ice hockey player Vladimir Konstantinov suffered career-ending injuries when his newly hired chauffeur, Richard Gnida, lost control of his limousine and crashed. The driver prepared the hot tubes at the beginning of the trip, after which the engine's natural compression cycle would keep them at the correct temperature. The term chauffeur comes from the French term for stoker because early cars, like their railway and maritime counterparts, ran on steam and required the driver to power the engine. In addition to minimum legal requirements, limousine companies often require their chauffeurs to undergo specific additional training.
