New driving service ready to launch in Vernon

Feb 27, 2023 | 5:00 AM

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Vernon had two driving services, but both Driving Hands and Bittermans Driving Service went out of business when restrictions hit bars, restaurants and events.

Tommy Lane was driving taxi and decided it was time to start his own business — Homebound – Safe and Sound — to get drivers, and their vehicles, home.

“I was hearing from my fares that they wished there was a service like Bittermans and Driving Hands, so after hearing it over and over, I thought, ‘Why not? Let’s jump in and see what happens,'” Lane told Vernon Matters.

Lane has the business registered, insurance secured, with three cars and six drivers nearly ready to go. The Homebound drivers are insured to drive customers’ cars.

“It is going to be operating Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. and cost $50 dollars anywhere in town,” Lane said.

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The fee is nearly double what the other companies were charging pre-pandemic.

Lane talked to one of the former operators of Driving Hands, about the business and how much to charge.

“She told me where they went wrong in their business. They were charging 25 or 35 dollars and it just wasn’t enough,” Lane stated. “If I put two drivers in a car, I have to pay them 15 dollars a trip, for them to make any money.”

Labour costs combined with fuel prices, maintenance and insurance brings the $50 charge into perspective.

People Lane has talked to have no objections to the fee versus leaving their vehicle in a parking lot or on the street overnight.

“I have been handing out business cards now for two or three weeks. Every time I give them a card, it is like a gold nugget, people go crazy,” Lane said. “I just have to get it started and see how it levels out.”

Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) is supportive of the service given a sharp increase in impaired driving during the pandemic. In 2019, police services in Canada reported a total of 85,673 incidents of impaired driving, the highest number since 2011.The organization estimates between 12,000 and 15,000 impaired driving fatalities annually and another 63,000 injured.

“On our cars, we are going to have MADD bumper stickers with Homebound. They are partnering up with me and giving me some airtime, helping me promote,” Lane added.

Lane is working on a website and social media. The Homebound phone number is 250-550-8099.

by Kevin Rothwell

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