According to state records that the Albany Times Union obtained, the owner of the stretch limousine involved in October’s fatal crash in Schoharie County apparently dodged the state’s inspection process since he bought the vehicle in 2016.
In accordance with state Department of Transportation laws, the 2001 stretch Ford Excursion was suppose to undergo thorough inspections overseen by the DOT every six months. Instead, Prestige Limousine was bringing the vehicle to local auto centers that conducted less stringent Department of Motor Vehicles reviews.
According to George Deutsch of Royale Limousine in Albany, who is responsible for selling the vehicle to Prestige’s owner Shahed Hussain in 2016, the limousine was certainly a DOT-regulated vehicle. Deutsch maintains that Hussian should have been aware of this regulation, as he has been in the limousine business for years. As limousine drivers average about 105 trips per month, it is standard practice to know what department regulates the safety of your vehicles.
The DMV-licensed inspection stations to which Prestige sent the limo are specifically banned from issuing inspection stickers to stretch limos. This regulation is similar to the one required for school buses, as both forms of transportation move large amounts of people in an elongated vehicle.
Over two years ago, on July 22 2016, the Wilton Truck Center off Exit 16 of the Northway issued a DMV inspection sticker to the limo in question. On March 21 2018, a DOT inspector took note of that same DMV inspection sticker during a spot inspection in Wilton.
This DOT-regulated inspection concluded with the inspector ordering that the limo be taken off of the road due to bad brakes, among other mechanical and paperwork issues. The inspector’s report also made note of the fact that the limo should have been inspected under the DOT’s bus program.
Less than two months later on May 11 Prestige again took the vehicle to the Mavis Discount Tire shop in Saratoga Springs, where it was again given passing marks and a DMV sticker. The DOT again inspected the limo on Sept. 4 and ordered it off the road, placing a sticker on the windshield stating that the vehicle was not to be used.
According to a DOT agency spokesman, the owner or operator of the limo intentionally violated the law by removing the sticker placed on Sept. 4. One of Prestige’s owners, Nauman Hussain, has been charged with criminally negligent homicide in connection with the October crash that killed 20 people.
