I have always maintained that the truly rich don’t drive, they get driven. If I were to find myself filthy rich tomorrow, I would never drive again. What is the matter with these people (Mel Gibson, Lindsay Lohan, George Michael, etc.) that they’re still driving themselves around? It’s not like they can’t afford to hire a full-time chauffeur for (to them) a pittance.
What I’d like to know is why do they drive themselves when they’re drunk? Do they think the situation regarding how one gets intoxicated doesn’t apply to them?
As far as regular driving goes, hey, some people just plain like to drive.
I suppose they simply don’t like the idea of having a chaffeur, or at least of using one constantly. Perhaps they find it feels ostentatious, or they enjoy the solitude of driving themselves, or whatever.
Heck - I so hate being in a car that even if I won the lottery tomorrow, I’d probably keep using Metro to get around. Just because I could afford to hire someone to drive me around in a gold-plated Rolls doesn’t mean I’d choose to do that.
Most celeb self caused “accidents” like Michaels and the other examples are due to drinking and drugging in the wee hours. Given the other bad behavior and related embarrassing stuff they are probably up to during this time with others (or in groups) they probably opt to (as would most people) go it alone vs having a chauffeur or keeper tagging alone and spoiling the fun.
I’ve always felt it was a stupid slogan. If I have some cash set aside and understand what the cost of a first DUI conviction would be, should I then drink and drive? Anyway, I think that celebrities just figure they can afford a dui or two.
The drivers and maids and such all have access to personal information. Who wants that? Granted George Michael isn’t the celebrity he once was but someone would probably pay $100 for a story about his drunken antics
What’s really amusing in these scenarios is where the celeb digs themselves in deeper and deeper into trouble with the court by not attending required classes or drug tests, or meeting with probation officers etc., or even bothering to attend court. They wind up with practically felony level jail time looming for stuff they could have taken care of with the most minor efforts.
I remember when Ozzy Osbourne and his family had that series on MTV, his son was shown being driven around by some flunky. I think I read somewhere that the reason was to avoid a lawsuit if the son got into trouble while driving himself around.
They enjoy driving, a driver’s one more person on the payroll, and one more person with access to them…
It’s safer (both physically and for their privacy), it’s cheaper, and it let’s them do something they enjoy.
Someone who doesn’t enjoy driving, can afford a driver, and doesn’t mind the potential problems having one more person close to them can cause…they’d probably have a driver. Having a permanent driver when any of these things isn’t true just wouldn’t be worth it.
In other words, Vincent Chase. Turtle was basically promoted from friend to driver, as opposed to being recruited as a driver. And as we know, Vince suuuuuuuucks at driving!
Having a chauffeur would be a pain in the ass, wouldn’t it? If I wanna get somewhere, what’s easier; getting into the car and driving, or having to command someone to get into the car at the same time as me and driving?
His last UK top 20 hit was at the end of 2009, and he was so huge at one point (Faith sold 10 million copies in the US and produced four number one singles, not to mention continued success worldwide) I’m sure if he manages his money well he’ll never need a hit record again.
My brother was a driver for a short while for a guy who had a DUI and lost his license, this was a local guy who was not famous. He got hired because he had a license to drive a cab. It was very boring because he mostly sat around.