For many Long Islanders, the awareness that stretch limousines can be dangerous ingredients in celebration recipes goes back to 1987, when a young bride, her groom and his brother were killed in Lido Beach. A stretch limousine transporting them from the wedding service to the reception was struck in the side by a speeding Buick.
Thirty-five years later, despite recent progress, these vehicles are still allowed to operate without appropriate safety precautions and the state is still too slow to investigate crashes, act on the findings, and keep unsafe limousines and drivers off the road.
Recollections of the 1987 tragedy were rekindled in July 2015 when a pickup truck struck the side of a stretch limousine attempting a U-turn in Cutchogue. Four of the eight passengers, young women who had hired a professional driver and luxury vehicle for a day enjoying the North Fork vineyards, were killed.
And last week marked the fourth anniversary of a super-stretch limousine crash, in upstate Schoharie, that was at the time the deadliest transportation disaster in the United States in more than a decade. All 17 passengers — friends and family celebrating a birthday — died, as did the driver and two pedestrians at a country store where the limo crashed after its brakes failed coming down a hill and it sped out of control.
The Schoharie tragedy did finally serve as a wake-up call. In 2020, the state enacted laws requiring: seat belts for every passenger in a for-hire vehicle, commercial driver’s licenses for operators of vehicles carrying more than eight passengers, lists of all registered stretch limousines provided to the Department of Motor Vehicles, and both pre-employment and random drug and alcohol screenings for all for-hire drivers.
The new laws also created the Stretch Limousine Passenger Safety Task Force, which issued a 154-page report this month and highlighted more changes needed. These include equipping all stretch limousines with side-impact protection devices, which is absolutely crucial. Also recommended and worth consideration: taking such vehicles off the road after 10 years, a pre-trip demonstration showing passengers how to use the seat belts and what to do during an emergency, window-break tools, and enhanced fire extinguisher requirements.
One complaint repeated by several task force members makes it clear that the state still doesn’t always treat the issue of limousine safety with the urgency it deserves. They would have liked to consider the state inspector general’s findings in the 2018 Schoharie crash, but four years later, that investigation remains incomplete.
Limousines often ferry us to and from our happiest and saddest occasions. Allowing them to operate unsafely creates opportunities for unthinkable tragedy. The momentum to make these vehicles safe has to continue, so that catastrophes do not.
MEMBERS OF THE EDITORIAL BOARD are experienced journalists who offer reasoned opinions, based on facts, to encourage informed debate about the issues facing our community.
Members of the editorial board are experienced journalists who offer reasoned opinions, based on facts, to encourage informed debate about the issues facing our community.