In search of answers for stretch-limousine tragedy

A horrific tragedy of errors seeped in irony played out in an idyllic country setting of upstate New York last weekend to produce this nation’s most deadly transportation disaster in nearly a decade.

Last Saturday in rural Schoharie, New York, the unlicensed driver of a dangerously souped-up stretch limousine blew a stop sign at a T-shaped intersection and plowed into a sport utility vehicle parked outside the Apple Barrel Country Store and Caf .

Seventeen passengers, the driver and two bystanders in the parking lot were killed. Ironically, the passengers en route to a birthday party in Cooperstown, New York, had rented the limousine as a cautionary safeguard in case any of them might risk danger by drinking too heavily and then driving.

Their responsibility diverted terribly into calamity. It should not have had to be that way.

The errors and problems that appear to have played major roles in the collision likely could have been avoided with more responsible leadership from the Prestige Limo company and more stringent safety oversight of stretch limousines, particularly those like the one in the New York crash that have been jerry-rigged from smaller vehicles.

For example, if passengers had known the truth about the party vehicle’s failing three safety inspections this year, none would likely have stepped foot inside it. In addition, had they known the driver was not properly licensed to drive the motor coach, all 17 of the riders would have high-tailed it pronto to a more trustworthy transportation provider.

That apparent laxity has resulted in charges of criminally negligent homicide against Prestige Limo Limousine operator Nauman Hussain. State and federal authorities are continuing their investigation to determine if additional charges will be filed in the case.

DEADLIEST TRAFFIC ACCIDENT IN 13 YEARS

Some, however, argue that relatively weak state and federal safety standards are partially to blame for last weekend’s worst traffic accident since a bus full of Texas nursing home patients caught fire while fleeing Hurricane Rita in 2005, killing 23 people.

Last weekend’s tragedy at the very least should spark state and federal highway safety leaders to review the efficacy of their standards. In Ohio, the state Highway Patrol inspects about 6,000 motor coaches, including limousines, per year.

On the federal level, the U.S. Department of Transportation requires all vehicles that seat 10 or more passengers and travel across state lines to maintain a series of minimum certifiable standards.

Transportation departments at the federal level and in many states, however, maintain uneven safety regulations for passenger automobiles and SUVs than they do for motor-coach vehicles.

For example, in many states including New York, seat belts are not required on the sides of the limousine where many passengers sit, and some modified stretch limousines lack any operable air bags.

Of particular concern are those SUVs that are sliced apart and then reassembled with an elongated midsection to accommodate additional passengers. In the process, engineering protocols to promote safety can be severely compromised, officials say.

The New York Times has called such retrofitted limousines “automotive zombies.”

“Without sufficient safety standards in place, it is nothing but a fine line between a stretch limousine and a hearse,” Thomas Spota, former Suffolk County [New York] district attorney, said.

In the final analysis, then, it is up to individual patrons to embrace the philosophy of caveat emptor – let the buyer beware. Check out the reputation of the service, the age and safety record of its fleet, its most recent inspection results, the licensing status of its drivers and whether it uses originally constructed vehicles or those more dangerous modified “zombies.”

Such vigilance by users and by highway-safety agencies alike can go far toward avoiding any replay of last week’s heartbreaking tragedy.