Posted on 10/08/2018 7:04:14 AM PDT by ETL
A limousine that crashed and killed 20 people in upstate New York on Saturday was reportedly in “terrible condition,” and was a replacement vehicle after the group’s rented bus broke down before reaching its destination.
All 18 inside the vehicle were killed, along with two bystanders after the 2001 Ford Excursion limousine – believed to be headed to a birthday party -- ran through an intersection and struck a parked 2015 Toyota Highlander outside the Apple Barrel Country Store.
-snip-
The limousine was traveling southwest on state Route 30 in Schoharie, about 170 miles north of New York City and 43 miles west of Albany, when it went through the intersection with Route 30A and struck the parked Toyota Highlander.
The site of the crash is notorious for accidents and has a been a point of concern among local residents for years.
"More accidents than I can count," Jessica Kirby, managing director of the Apple Barrel Country Store and Cafe told the AP in an email. "We have been asking for something to be done for years."
The intersection underwent construction in 2008 following a deadly accident, Kirby told the AP.
-snip-
Schoharie Town Supervisor Alan Tavenner told the Times Union of Albany that transportation officials attempted to make the intersection safer about seven years ago.
The improvements, however, didn’t seem to work.
"There have been tractor trailers that have come barreling down that hill and it was a miracle they didn't kill somebody," Tavenner said.
"I honestly think it was a more dangerous intersection than it was before," he told The New York Times.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
They rented a bus, bus broke down so this old vehicle was substituted last minute - sounds like Prestige Limo might be negligent.
I guessing the driver had a heart attack or something.
I think this was a small limo company. I think they only had a few vehicles(like 3) I heard. The bigger more expensive limo companies have newer equipment.
Replacement vehicle. Not much choice in selecting that one.
“But remember no one inside was wearing seatbelts”
Few people understand the importance of a seat belt. I rolled a new 2007 Chevy pickup. The centrifugal force wanted to send me out he door window, but the seat belt kept me inside.
The replacement for this 2007 Chevy was a 2008 pickup. My wife had a head on collision with another pickup. The girl in the other pickup was sent out the sun roof, landed in a ditch with broken neck and cracked skull. Wife had her seatbelt on, not a scratch. To top it off, the ambulance for this wreck rear ended our 2008 pickup - they wore their seatbelts.
Sadly they don't. Its hard to modify brakes to properly slow down that much weight with just 4 tires. Remember the contact patch between the road and the tire is about the size of a 3x5 card.
These vehicles were not ever designed to go 60-70 miles and hour down the highway, they can't brake properly and any accident avoidance measure will cause a rollover.
Prays for all the families and friends of those involved.
My brake lines rusted out on my fairly late model Chevy Pickup. Luckily, nobody died when my brake pedal went to the floor. It makes me wonder if we had a brake failure here.
Either that, or the brakes failed completely. Excursions are heavy as it is and have known handling problems due to the rear suspension geometry, and then you add ten feet of additional (heavy) vehicle to that, plus 18 people. Plus, this is a 17-year-old truck now, that probably hasn’t been well maintained (given that it was the backup for a bus that also broke down). For all we know, the driver was frantically (and futilely) trying to do anything he could to get the hurtling truck under control during those last few seconds. The weight, plus the hill it was going down, could well have induced 100% understeer, and might even explain why the front wheel(s) were shorn right off the lugs.
A year 2001 limo?
I’m really pi$$ed that GM didn’t use stainless steel brake lines. I wonder if Ford had the same problem.
“Awful. I expected the limo to be in much worse shape, considering everyone was killed. So sad.”
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No Socialist, there seems there must be more to this story. It doesn’t make sense that they all died. Even if they were all standing up there should be some that survived. Especially with the seemingly intact vehicle.
So many young lives. It truly does emphasize that no one is guaranteed a ‘tomorrow.’ So much sadness all around. I’d think they would need to completely close that particular intersection, if what they say about it being a danger throughout the years is accurate.
Very sad.
So sad. So many family members gone all at once. Prayers for the families.
There is a police chase video on youtube where they chase a long limo based on a Chrysler 300. In the chase, eventually he burns up the transmission before they finally catch him.
Damn. Among all the tragedy, one family is burying four daughters and another is burying two sons.
Was the limo driver’s name Ahmed or Muhammed? Just curious.
60+ mph to a dead stop. Impact severe enough rip to bolted on wheels from the hub.
The car was parked at the corner of the T-intersection, by the Apple Barrel store. He may have jammed on the brakes and swerved into the parked car.
Passengers in party limos, like buses, aren’t required to wear seatbelts, and in many cases the interior isn’t conducive to seatbelts anyway (usually one or more seating areas are sideways-facing).
“60mph to 0 in a dead stop. Passengers unrestrained. If tires can separate from wheel hub with 5-8 hardened steel bolts, imagine what that might do to a neck. Tragic.”
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1Old Pro, I missed the part about the tires separating from the wheel hub. Compared to that, the human neck would have snapped like a twig. Death would have been almost instant. So much death. The only solace the families will have is if they accept it was a quick death. So much sorrow all the way around.
Nothing about the driver yet? The family of the driver must be going through hell as well.
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