Limo Regulations Probed After Deadly New York Crash

The National Transportation Safety Board will examine federal oversight of the limousine industry as part of its investigation into a deadly New York state crash that killed 20 people in the worst U.S. transportation event since 2009, Chairman Robert Sumwalt said.

“We certainly want to look at the regulation of limos. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration does oversee motor carriers so we want to see if the regulation for limousines is adequate,” Sumwalt said Monday in an interview with CNN. “This does need to be a wake-up call.”

The white, stretch SUV limo lost control Saturday and careened through an intersection known for being the site of past crashes, the New York Times reported. The crash killed all 18 people in the rented vehicle, including the driver, as well as two pedestrians. Among the dead were four sisters, two brothers and at least three young couples, the Times said.

The manager of the Apple Barrel Country Store, where the two pedestrians were struck in a parking lot, told the paper the limo was coming down a hill at “probably” 60 miles per hour.

Sumwalt said in the interview that his agency would be getting at the “meat” of its investigation Monday, and it would also focus on the lack of seat belts in the back of the limo and the past history of collisions on that roadway.