Additional lawsuits have been filed by families of passengers killed in a 2018 limousine crash near Schoharie, New York. Two of the actions target the New York Department of Transportation and a repair shop that had serviced the vehicle.
Brake defects were found at all four wheels of the stretched 2001 Ford Excursion after it sped through an intersection and crashed into a wooded area. The crash killed 17 passengers, two pedestrians in a parking lot and the driver of the limousine.
Nauman Hussain, 28, manager of Prestige Limousine of Saratoga Springs, has pleaded not guilty to 20 counts of second-degree manslaughter and 20 counts of criminally negligent homicide for ordering the limousine into service after it had been twice ordered out of service by state inspectors. Prosecutors allege that Hussain removed an out-of-service sticker placed by inspectors before sending the vehicle out to carry a birthday party to a brewery.
A notice of claim was filed against the state of New York to inform it of a planned suit alleging that the NY DOT was negligent in not ensuring that the limo was kept off the road until repairs were made properly.
Another suit filed in December alleges that Mavis Discount Tire, which had been assigned repair work on the Excursion, did not completely perform the repairs, invoiced for repairs that were not performed and assigned an inspection sticker to the limo although the shop was not authorized to perform the inspection.
“This limousine should never have been on the road. These lawsuits allege that the owners of the limousine company, Mavis and the New York State received multiple warnings and notices that the limousine was unfit to be driven on the open road and certainly unfit to carry passengers,” said Cynthia S. LaFave, an attorney with one of the law firms representing the victims’ estates. She spoke at a press conference announcing the filings.
