USA TODAY International Edition
Lingering limo-crash questions
Tragic upstate New York accident left 20 dead
ALBANY, N.Y. – The limousine crash that killed 20 people this month was the worst accident in the U.S. in nine years, and it leaves a host of unanswered questions. Authorities were expected to continue their investigation for at least a few more days, and the National Transportation Safety Board has been on site every day. But so far, police and investigators have offered few insights into what exactly caused the Oct. 6 crash in the middle of the day on a rural road in the town of Schoharie. The operator of the limo company, Prestige Limo, was charged Wednesday with criminally negligent homicide. “Other persons’ potential involvement is the subject of a continuing investigation,” New York State Police Superintendent George Beach said Wednesday. Here are the unanswered questions in the horrific crash.
Question: What’s the latest with the investigation?
Answer: State police and the NTSB have said little in recent days about where their investigation is headed or what they have found. State police from the outset said they were investigating the crash as a criminal case. And that bore out Wednesday when limo company operator Nauman Hussain was charged. It could take weeks if not months for the NTSB to make its findings public. “Data is being collected from the scene, and that information will be examined and analyzed,” New York State Police said. “State police are in possession of the air bag control module, what would be considered the vehicle’s black box, and that is being analyzed for postcrash data.”
Q: Did the driver make an error?
A: It isn’t yet clear whether driver Scott Lisinicchia, 53, made any avoidable errors when he drove through an intersection at the bottom of a hill and crashed into an unoccupied vehicle before the limo came to rest in a ditch. There were no skidmarks left at the scene of the crash, though that doesn’t necessarily mean the driver didn’t attempt to brake, state police said. Autopsy results will answer whether Lisinicchia, who was one of the 20 killed in the crash, was in any way impaired. An attorney for Lisinicchia’s family issued a statement saying the family believes Prestige Limousine gave him a faulty car to drive. “The family believes that unbeknownst to him he was provided with a vehicle that was neither roadworthy nor safe for any of its occupants,” the attorney, George Longworth, said in a statement. The state says Lisinicchia didn’t have the appropriate “passenger clearance” on his commercial driver’s license to operate a vehicle with capacity to carry more than 15 passengers.
Q: Were there mechanical problems with the limousine, and did they contribute to the crash?
A: Inspection records for the 2001 Ford Excursion show that state inspectors found numerous issues with the vehicle. Those included issues with the brake system as recently as September, with the state Department of Transportation taking the vehicle out of service until the company could prove it made the repairs. Lee Kindlon, an attorney for Prestige Limousine and the Hussain family, said that the repairs were made after the inspection. The DOT, however, says it did not certify the car to be back on the road.
Q: What about the intersection?
A: That’s another issue under review. The accident occurred at the bottom of steep hill at the intersection of Route 30A and Route 30 next to a country store – where two bystanders were among the 20 killed. Neighbors said the grade of the road has been problematic, and a decade ago the state changed it from a Y-shaped intersection to a T-shaped intersection. In all, the state DOT said four accidents have occurred there in the past decade.
Q: Why wasn’t it impounded?
A: On Aug. 25, state police say, a trooper stopped the limo in Saratoga Springs, New York, and issued violations to the company and to Lisinicchia that he was operating the limo without the proper license. Then, a month later, the limo failed an inspection by the state Department of Motor Vehicles. But while the limo was affixed with a sticker that it couldn’t operate, the state didn’t impound it – and then it ended up back on the road. In the case of the police stop in August, “the trooper did not have the legal authority to seize the plates or the vehicle during that stop,” state police said.
Q: Will the owner of the limousine company be charged?
A: The owner of Prestige Limousine, Shahed Hussain, has not yet been charged with a crime. His whereabouts could be a complicating factor: He is currently in Pakistan and was there before the crash, Kindlon said. Beach, the police superintendent, said Wednesday that he does not have the authority to compel Shahed Hussain to come back to the U.S. Kindlon said Shahed Hussain will cooperate with the investigation and return if necessary. Nauman Hussain, Shahed’s son, acted as the operator of the limousine company, according to state police. He was released on $150,000 bond Thursday. “The sole responsibility for that motor vehicle being on the road on Saturday rests with Nauman Hussain,” Beach said.
Q: Will Nauman Hussain face more charges?
A: Nauman Hussain is facing a single count of criminally negligent homicide, a Class E felony punishable by up to four years in prison. All 20 victims were listed by state police within the single count. The charge accuses Nauman Hussain of having “grossly deviated from the standard of care that a reasonable person would observe” because he knew, or should have known, that Lisinicchia wasn’t properly licensed and that the limo was in disrepair. It’s possible it could be split into separate charges for each victim at a later date, which would mean he could face significantly more jail time.