SCHOHARIE, NY — The stretch SUV at the center of the horrific limousine crash that killed 20 people Saturday should not have been on the road. Nor should the driver have been at the wheel, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at a press briefing Monday.
“The updates we have thus far are—number one—the driver of the vehicle, the quote, unquote limousine, did not have the appropriate driver’s license to be operating that vehicle. Second, that vehicle was inspected by the New York State Department of Transportation last month and failed inspection and was not supposed to be on the road,” Cuomo said. “We don’t yet know the cause of the accident—if it was a vehicle malfunction, if it was a driver malfunction, a driver error. That’s part of the ongoing investigation between the NTSB and the State Police. The name of the company was Prestige Limousine. We’re doing a cease and desist order to stop Prestige Limousine from operating until the investigation is concluded. But that’s what we know so far, and the investigation is ongoing.”
More tweets are circulating about the driver of the SUV.
The National Transportation Safety Board has sent a ‘go-team’ to New York to investigate the horrific crash that killed 20, including the driver, four sisters and newlywed couples in the SUV and two pedestrians in the small town near Albany.
It happened just before 2 p.m. Saturday. The 2001 Ford Excursion SUV stretch limousine was traveling in a southwestern direction on State Route 30 and ran a stop sign at the intersection with State Route 30A.
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The modified SUV plowed across the intersection into the parking lot of the Apple Barrel Country store and struck a parked Toyota Highlander. The Highlander then struck and killed two people standing nearby.
“Twenty fatalities, it’s just horrific,” board chairman Robert Sumwalt told the media. “I’ve been on the board for 12 years and this is one of the biggest losses of life … This is the most deadly transportation accident in this country since February of 2009.”
New York State police said it was not yet clear whether the brakes failed or whether the driver was speeding.
Cuomo concentrated during the press conference on other basics, namely that the stretch SUV did not have the required federal certification.
“This vehicle never had that certification, so it violated the federal process. The state then inspects the vehicle. We inspected the vehicle just last month, it failed the inspection. The driver did not have the appropriate license,” Cuomo said. “So I think the owner of this company, the owner of Prestige has a lot of questions to answer. There’s an ongoing investigation. But is there a possibility of liability? Civil and Criminal? Certainly.”
Many of the victims were from nearby Amsterdam. They were apparently on an excursion to a craft brewery to celebrate a birthday. One of them had texted minutes before the crash about the awful condition of the stretch limo, which was a last-minute substitute for a bus the group had rented.
While police have not released the names of the victims, many relatives and friends have been talking to the media about members of the group.
Among the dead: brothers Axel Steenburg, 29, and Rich Steenburg, 34; Axel Steenburg’s wife, Amy, and her three sisters, Alison King, Mary Dyson and Abby Jackson plus husbands husband Rob Dyson and Adam Jackson; Erin Vertucci and husband Shane McGowan; Amanda Halse, and her boyfriend, Patrick Cushing. Adam and Abigail Johnson, the parents of two young daughters – 4-year-old Archer and 16-month-old Elle –were also killed in the crash, according to a GoFundMe page set up by a family friend.
The NTSB is in Schoharie because in 2015 United States Sen. Chuck Schumer urged the NTSB to investigate a horrific accident on Long Island involving another stretch limo and urged the agency to continue investigating limo accidents nationwide, and the agency agreed.
“My thoughts and prayers go out to the families and loved ones involved in this tragic accident. Right now, with more questions than answers, it is critical for the NTSB to get to the bottom of how this happened,” said Schumer. “I commend the NTSB’s immediate aid on scene and am very confident that we will have concrete answers soon.”
GoFundMe photo shows Adam and Abigail Johnson with their two daughters.
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