Still talking
Proposal, in response to October crash, would set $1.5M minimum
Proposal to expand state attorney general’s power still under discussion.
State Sen. Neil Breslin is pushing legislation that would significantly raise the minimum insurance requirements that upstate limousine companies carry on their vehicles.
The bill comes in the wake of the limousine crash in Schoharie last October in which 20 people were killed.
The limousine, operating illegally, was carrying 17 passengers from Amsterdam to Cooperstown for a birthday celebration when it careened through a stop sign at the bottom of a steep hill at the intersection of routes 30 and 30A, crashing head-on into a shallow ravine adjacent to the Apple Barrel Country Store and Cafe.
The driver, 17 passengers and two bystanders died from traumatic blunt-force injuries suffered during the crash.
It remains unclear what level of insurance coverage the limousine’s owner, Prestige Limousine of Wilton, had at the time of the crash. The company also had not sought the proper authorization from the state Department of Motor Vehicles to operate the vehicle for hire.
The company’s insurance coverage on the vehicle had been repeatedly canceled in the months leading up to the crash, during a time when the stretch 2001 Ford Excursion had failed three roadside state inspections.
The insurance cancellations also led the state DMV to repeatedly revoke the limo’s registration.
The limo’s insurance policy, purchased through Global Liberty Insurance of New York, was reinstated just a day before the crash, according to state DMV records obtained by the Times Union.
New York doesn’t differentiate between cars and limos when it comes to insurance minimums to cover injuries or death in a crash, with coverage of rates as low as $100,000 for the death of one or more people.
Breslin’s bill would set the minimum payout at $1.5 million for injuries or death to one or more people in a limousine, which would be defined as a livery vehicle with 8 or more passengers. The measure would also require that limo owners hand in their plates when coverage lapses.
In New York City, limos that can carry between 9 and 15 passengers require the same amount of insurance coverage, while super-stretch limos like the one involved in the Schoharie crash are required to have $5 million in coverage.
Federal law requires much higher minimums for limos engaged in interstate travel, with $1.5 million required for vehicles that carry up to 14 passengers and $5 million for limos that carry 15 or more passengers.
“There is no reason those outside New York City traveling in a limousine should be less protected than someone in New York City, or someone traveling across state lines,” states a memo that Breslin attached to the Senate bill.
The first civil lawsuit against Prestige Limousine was filed in state Supreme Court in Albany on behalf of the parents of Amanda Rivenburg, who was one of the passengers aboard the stretch Excursion owned by Prestige. The 29-year-old had graduated from Colonie Central High School, attended SUNY Plattsburgh and worked for Living Resources, an Albany-based organization that serves people with disabilities. Rivenburg’s family is represented by Albany attorney Sal Ferlazzo.
The lawsuit also names Prestige Limousine owner Shahed Hussain and his son, Nauman Hussain, as defendants. Nauman Hussain, who operated Prestige Limousine while his father was living in Pakistan, has been charged with one count of criminally negligent homicide in connection with the crash. He has pleaded not guilty and his attorney, Lee Kindlon of Albany, says his client did nothing criminal.