Still, stars will still have to get in-and out. And their main route is via limousine. That means monitoring the limos has become mandatory as well.

An estimated 1,500 will file up to the Kodak that night. The academy will know who is driving each car, having requested the chauffeurs’ passports, driver’s license numbers and current addresses well in advance, limo companies say.

An 18-foot-long car may not seem like the most practical weapon of mass destruction, but no one is taking chances, including limo companies. They’re preparing their drivers to be ready for terrorists and sympathizers.

Diva Limousine expects at least 300 of its cars to be shuttling stars and executives to the ceremony and the after-parties. Three days before the Oscars, fleet manager Lawrence Thomas will bring in his drivers to carefully go over the evening’s events. Routes will be discussed, and drivers will be given details on security checklists. Thomas does not want his celebrity clients to suffer any unnecessary or embarrassing searches.

Drivers will be told that nothing should be in the vehicle that can be remotely mistaken for a weapon. A bomb-sniffing dog can mistake antifreeze for an explosive, Thomas says. And there should be no hot drinks. “Some thermoses don’t look like thermoses,” he advises.

Before getting behind the wheel of any limo at CLS Transportation, drivers must prove they can handle emergencies. Whether it’s paparazzi or a hijacker, the principles are the same, says Jim Green, director of security at CLS. He tells drivers to scan the mirrors for pursuers and not to get boxed in-or to roll down the window to talk with anyone, even if they say they just want directions. “Someone came up to a driver of mine and put a shotgun to his head at the window,” Green says. “He was aware enough to know that his best option was to floor it and get out of there.”

If a hijacker does happen to get into a limo, drivers know to turn on the car’s microphone, so a dispatcher can hear what’s happening. At that point, they are also supposed to drive to a police station or somewhere safe. “Start to say ‘I’ll go there,’ and go in a different direction,” Green advises his chauffeurs. If all else fails and lives are in danger, a driver must stop the vehicle any way possible. “If you can’t get out of your car to escape, your next course of action is to crash it,” he says.

At Diva, a global positioning satellite system monitors every vehicle. On Sept. 15, the company began tracking their cars every five minutes. Today, Diva knows the speed and direction of every one of their limos, even whether they’re on the street or in a driveway. “We can tell if the engine is running or off,” Thomas says.

Green admits that a limo driver would have little chance against a suicide bomber or another serious threat, but he does expect his employees to do anything they can to prevent a crisis. “I ask them, ‘Who is the most important person on the planet?,’ and it will usually be a wife or a child,” he says. “And I ask, ‘What would you do for them?’ And they would die for them. It’s extreme for me to say that, but that’s how they’ve got to treat the clients.” And that goes for all clients-even those on the other 364 nights of the year.