Photo: Hans Pennink/AP/REX/Shutterstock
A horrific accident involving astretch limousine that left 20 people deadon Saturday in upstate New York is calling into question the safety of the luxury vehicles commonly used for wedding parties and birthday celebrations across the country.
Fatal accidents involving limos have occurred over the last decade, including one in 2013 wherefive women burned to deathwhile celebrating a bridal shower when the vehicle burst into flames. Investigators found the limo was overcapacity, and surviving passengers said the driver was likely distracted whilearguing with his wife over the phonewhen they tried to alert him to the growing fire.
As theNew York Timesnoted in their report on limo safety following the 2015 accident, the structure of a limo itself does not serve passengers well in the event of an accident.
Hans Pennink/AP/Shutterstock
“Before they’re modified, they do have to meet different safety regulations in the U.S., but once a vehicle is modified there are many exemptions,” Raul Arbelaez, an engineer with the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety,told NBC News in response to the crash this weekend.
“They don’t have to go back and prove that they meet any of the crash safety criteria,” he added to the outlet.
While the driver and a passenger in the front seat of a limo would have to wear seatbelts, passengers riding in the back are not required to. The alignment of the seats exposes another problem, theTimesnoted — if a vehicle slams into a limo, say, on its left side, the crash would be considered a rear side impact for a passenger positioned on that end. But for someone sitting on the right side, it becomes a head-on collision, which changes the dynamics of how to best provide protection.
Tom Heffernan Sr/AP/REX/Shutterstock
“What you have in a stretch limousine is none of that,” Arbelaez told theTimesin 2015. “Even if you wanted to put them in, I know of no airbag suppliers that make an airbag big enough.”
In an interview withInside Edition, Eddie Fahmy, a former owner of a limo company, said the weight of the vehicle is also another factor limo drivers have to navigate.
“The biggest risk is the driver going too fast,” Fahmy toldInside Edition. “Add 18 people to the car and another 2,000 pounds of weight, trying to stop this car takes five times as long to stop the vehicle and unfortunately that’s a recipe for disaster.”
Alan Tavenner, a supervisor for the town of Schoharie, told PEOPLE that the intersection where Saturday’s crash occurred has been the scene of many accidents over the years, due to a deep hill that drivers must navigate as they enter the junction. Because of its design, it is possible for drivers coming down the hill to mistakenly believe the road continues on.
According to witnesses who were near the scene, the limo was traveling at 60 miles per hour.
RELATED VIDEO: 20 Die in the Deadliest Transportation Accident in a Decade
Gov. Andrew Cuomo alsoannounced on Mondaythat the driver involved in the Schoharie crash was not properly licensed to operate the vehicle.
“The owner of the company had no business putting a failed vehicle on the road,” the governor said, according toNewsdayandNBC News.
Cuomo added that the exact cause of the accident remains unclear, such as whether it was the driver’s mistake, some kind of mechanical issue or a combination of the both.
The National Transportation Safety Board labeled Saturday’s crash — which killed 18 people who were in the limo, as well as two pedestrians — as the “most deadly transportation accident” in the U.S. since 2009.
source: people.com
