I write with deep concern and urgency following a troubling and completely avoidable incident in the Catskills — one that should alarm every parent and community member who uses frum car services in the summer. A camp director informed me that several girls returning from a day off used a well-known, frum car service in the area. During the ride, the driver was pulled over for a routine traffic infraction. That alone is disturbing. But what the police discovered is even more troubling: The vehicle’s registration was expired. This wasn’t a backroads, off-the-books operation. This was a car dispatched by a business that claims to serve the frum community — and the driver was behind the wheel in a vehicle not legally registered to be on the road. Many of us deliberately pay more to use heimishe car services over Uber or Lyft. We do it because we want to support fellow Yidden. We do it because we assume there’s a higher standard of care, of responsibility, of basic menschlichkeit. But now we’re left asking: Do these companies care about our safety — or just our money? If an Uber driver had been caught with an expired registration, we’d be appalled. So why are we tolerating it from our own? Choosing “frum” shouldn’t come at the cost of basic legal compliance and public safety. If anything, it should mean more accountability — not less. I’m calling on every parent, counselor, and camper: Before you step into a car service vehicle — ask to see the registration. Yes, you’re allowed to ask. Yes, you should. And if the driver refuses, resists, or acts insulted — that’s your cue to step out and call another car. We have checks for kashrus. We have checks for mechitzos. We should have checks for the cars driving our children. With great respect, I turn to our rabbanim and poskim: When someone is caught driving with an expired registration — placing lives at risk — are we allowed, or even obligated, to report it to authorities? Is this a matter of pikuach nefesh? We urgently need clear and public guidance from our leaders — so that no one is left wondering what the halachic response should be to obvious, repeated negligence. To the car services in the Catskills and beyond: This is unacceptable. Do not dispatch drivers who aren’t legally cleared to be on the road. Do not take our trust and turn it into risk. You are transporting neshamos, not packages. To the tzibbur: Wake up. Speak up. Check before you ride. If something seems off — say something. Don’t assume “frum” means “safe.” We want to support heimishe businesses. We want to uplift our own. But that doesn’t mean giving a pass to those who violate basic standards of law, safety, and human responsibility. Frumkeit and carelessness cannot coexist. With deep concern, Moshe M. The views expressed in this letter are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of YWN. Have an opinion you would like to share? Send it to us for review.  (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)  | Read More The Yeshiva World