WATCHDOG: REGULATORY GAPS SEEN IN LIMO CRASH

New York regulators failed to do all they could to sideline a poorly maintained stretch limousine that careened down a hill and crashed in 2018, killing 20 people, according to a state watchdog.

State Inspector General Lucy Lang released a report Friday night echoing federal regulators who concluded in 2020 that the Department of Transportation and Department of Motor Vehicles fell short in their oversight of the limousine, which crashed into a shallow ravine west of Albany, N.Y., on Oct. 6, 2018.

The operator, Prestige, repeatedly changed the listed number of seats in the 2001 Ford Excursion limo and took other steps to avoid safety regulations, government officials have said.

The inspector’s report said that while the office discovered no evidence of misconduct or malfeasance by employees of the two agencies, it found “significant gaps in policies, procedures and interagency communications” that kept the limousine operator’s misconduct from being promptly identified and addressed.

The inspector said regulators missed opportunities to identify problems with the limo’s registration and that the transportation department didn’t take all the steps available to have the vehicle’s license plates seized.

“Egregious actors who repeatedly flout DOT’S regulations, such as Prestige, must be matched with a more urgent response,” according to the report.

The transportation department strongly disagreed with some assertions in the report, including the conclusion that it could have unilaterally initiated a plate seizure process, said Marie Therese Dominguez, a commissioner with the agency.

The agencies agreed with the report’s policy recommendations to increase limousine safety.

Prestige operator Nauman Hussain faces trial next spring on 20 counts each of criminally negligent homicide and second-degree manslaughter.