Recommendations unheeded

ALBANY, N.Y. _ A July 2015 limousine crash killed four young women as they left a Long Island winery. Two months later, the Suffolk County district attorney's office convened a special grand jury to examine the circumstances surrounding the crash.

A year later, the grand jury released a 156-page report that included 10 pages of conclusions and recommendations.

But many of its prescriptions, including calling on Gov. Andrew Cuomo to convene a task force on stretch limousine regulations, were never enacted. At least two of the recommendations would have directly affected the modified 2001 Ford Excursion that crashed in Schoharie County on Oct. 6, killing 20 people.

In the Long Island crash, the modified Lincoln Town Car was attempting to make a U-turn when it was struck in the side by a pickup truck. In addition to the four fatalities, the collision injured four others.

The grand jury heard from dozens of experts and witnesses, and watched a police re-enactment of the crash.

One grand jury recommendation that might have saved lives in Schoharie was a call for legislation requiring all passengers traveling in stretch limousines to wear seat belts.

"Occupants in the back of a limousine or any vehicle, without seat belts on, are just projectiles, like anything else," a state Department of Transportation official told the grand jury, according to the report.

Reconfirming that tragic analysis, State Police last week said all 20 of the Schoharie victims died of blunt force trauma.

Cuomo has proposed increased requirements for seat belt usage in his past two budgets, but the state Legislature did not approve them.

"There's an ongoing criminal investigation and we need to respect that process; but to be clear, DOT issued several violations against the vehicle and barred it from being used as a commercial vehicle," said Cuomo spokesman Peter Ajemian. "It appears the owner broke the law anyway, which is why one of its operators has already been charged with criminally negligent homicide. This is now a matter for the courts."

When asked why a task force to study stretch limousine safety wasn't created, Ajemian referred to Cuomo's previous comments on the grand jury's recommendations.

At a Columbus Day parade in New York City, Cuomo told reporters it was a federal issue.

"The federal government has the primary set of regulations for limousines, buses, etc. They basically fall under the bus regulatory system, which is the federal system," he said.

A package of bills adding to the regulation of stretch limousines was introduced late last week by Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, D-Westchester County. The bills address seat belt use, hands-free mobile devices and carbon monoxide detectors; create a safety task force, require drivers to be drug-tested; and set restrictions on U-turns.

The issue has been on her radar since 2006, when she introduced legislation requiring the inspection of vehicles carrying nine or more passengers. The bill was vetoed by then-Gov. George Pataki, and Paulin said it took her five years of persistent lobbying to get it written into state regulations.

She also closely monitored the 2015 crash, and after the Schoharie crash dove into her old notes and contacts to craft the new legislation.

"It reminded me that we need to make limousines safer," Paulin said. "We do not want to put anybody in jeopardy."

Kevin Barwell, president of the Limousine, Bus, Taxi Operators of Upstate New York, cautioned against any push for increased regulations.

"We don't know the reason why this accident happened," he said. "New York is one of the strictest states in the country when it comes to vehicles of that size."

The state requires inspections every six months for vehicles of that size, and those that fail have their inspections moved up to every three months, Barwell said.

It's unclear how the company that owned the Schoharie limousine, Wilton-based Prestige Limousine, was able to keep the vehicle on the road. Out of more than 100 limo companies across the state over a two-year period, Prestige had the most egregious violations, according to a Times Union review of state inspection records. Prestige still had possession of the Excursion limousine at the time of the accident _ despite being cited in September not only for brake problems, but also for not having the operating authority from state DOT to even run the business.

The inspector also could not find the federal modification tag that is required to prove the Ford limo was properly elongated by a third-party shop after the SUV left the factory 17 years ago.

Barwell noted that almost no operators still use the type of modified Ford Excursion vehicle that crashed in Schoharie, and that modified stretch limos are disappearing from the market as businesses switch to buses instead.

Prestige, the company that owned the vehicle, appeared to simply ignore state regulations, he said. Its limousine had failed a state inspection just weeks before the crash and was not supposed to be on the road.

"It's hard to stop someone from doing what they're not supposed to do," Barwell said.

State Sen. James Seward, who represents Schoharie, echoed a similar sentiment, saying any potential changes should wait for the National Transportation Safety Board's recommendations.

"I'm not making a rush to judgment," the Republican said. "They're going to issue a report and recommendations. I'm eagerly awaiting that."

NTSB investigators were on the crash scene approximately 24 hours after it happened, but did not have access to the wrecked limo _ which is under the control of the State Police _ until Friday. The board is expected to release a preliminary report within the next few weeks, but a full investigation may take more than a year.

Seward also said the state should address the current "patchwork" of state and federal regulations and examine whether modified stretch limousines are safe.

Prestige Limo's operator, Nauman Hussain, is scheduled to appear Tuesday in Cobleskill Town Court. Hussain was charged with a single count of criminally negligent homicide four days after the crash.

State Police said Hussain knew that the limo's driver, Scott Lisinicchia, was not licensed to drive a limo with that many passengers. Hussain has pleaded not guilty.