Limo Association Speaks Out On New Reforms

NORTH FORK, NY —The Long Island Limousine Association weighed in Thursday on a package of comprehensive limousine reforms agreed upon by both the Senate and Assembly this week.

Reforms include "outright ban" on the registration of remanufactured limousines; the installation of seatbelts; a new hotline; the prohibition of U-turns for limousines, and more.

"As I’ve stated in the past, the Long Island Limousine Association and its members always stood behind the issue of safety — never did we fight it," Penny Casey, president of the Long Island Limousine Association in Lindenhurst, told Patch.

"The only thing we have been trying to do was to have the CDL licensing of drivers be for 10 or more, as it already was," she said. "It looks as though the legislators believe this will make a difference; clearly it won’t. You can have a driver who is CDL licensed and still be a horrible driver, even with training," she said.

"This was all done so the industry would report to the New York State Department of Transportation directly, which we all know still has issues within," Casey said. "The accident that occurred out east was not a limousine with mechanical failure . . . The accident upstate was . . . mechanical. The company had failed inspection numerous times. Instead of the inspection station reporting it and impounding the limousine, they chose to let it go back to the owner, who, in turn put it back on the road for service . . . The Department of Transportation, Department of Motor Vehicles, and state all failed to do their jobs here — hence the governor coming down on all the reputable 'legal' operators in New York State, crippling all of us."

She added: "We have tried many times to get an appointment and meet with the governor, DOT and legislators so we may sit down with the experts and see how we can come to an agreement, but they refused to meet with us. This was a one-man show by the governor, because he knew he had to do something since the state basically dropped the ball here with the accident upstate. We, unlike the governor, will continue to fight to get these rogue operators and the illegal Uber drivers off the road, because again, our concern is safety."

After years of advocating tirelessly for change, the parents of four young women killed in a horrific limousine crash in Cutchogue are applauding the comprehensive limousine reforms.

On Tuesday, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the slate of comprehensive safety reforms for limousines and large passenger vehicles that will be included in the 2019 executive budget.

Following the horrific tragedy involving a modified stretch limousine in Schoharie County in 2018 that killed 20 and the North Fork limo crash in 2015, the governor said he has committed to enacting essential safety reforms into law. In January, 2019, Cuomo announced comprehensive safety reforms for limousines and large passenger vehicles.

"We are advancing reforms that will give aggressive new powers that will allow authorities to take dangerous vehicles off the roads without delay, hold unscrupulous businesses accountable and increase public safety in every corner of New York," Cuomo said.

Reforms, Cuomo said, include an "outright ban" on the registration of remanufactured limousines, prohibiting their operation in New York State; a requirement that drivers hold a commercial driver license with a special passenger endorsement to operate a for hire vehicle with 8 or more passengers; making it a felony to remove an out of service sticker placed by a DOT inspector from a vehicle without having the vehicle re-inspected and cleared by DOT to return to service and increasing the civil penalty to a maximum fine of $25,000 per violation for any person found operating with suspended DOT operating authority or operating a vehicle without authority.

Other reforms include establishing stronger registration suspension and vehicle impoundment powers, including an explicit process for immediate suspension of operating authority by the DOT commissioner in circumstances that endanger the health, safety, and welfare of the public; authorizing the DOT and DMV to seize suspended license plates; making it a felony for any owner/operator to tamper with a Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard tag or vehicle inspection sticker; and ensuring vehicle impoundment occurs for felony violations and subjecting multiple violators to the potential for civil forfeiture of vehicle.

Additional changes include requiring mandatory reporting by inspection stations to DMV if a vehicle attempts an unauthorized inspection; creating new criminal penalties for any DMV-regulated inspection station that illegally issues an inspection sticker; prohibiting U-turns for larger vehicles on all roads within the state; eliminating the exception to seatbelt requirements for limousines, buses, taxis, liveries, and school buses; and establishing a DOT inspection fee of $120 per inspection for vehicles subject to such inspection.

Reflecting on the reforms, Paul Shulman of Smithtown, whose daughter whose daughter Brittney Shulman, 23, was one of four young women, including Stephanie Belli, 23, Amy Grabina, 23, and Lauren Baruch, 24, killed, said after months of hard work, all that's left is for Cuomo to sign the measure into law.

"It is so much more than we were expecting. We are all very pleased," he said. But, Shulman added: "It's bittersweet. I'm really happy about it, but I wish it wasn't necessary."

Other East End lawmakers applauded the reforms. "New Yorkers rent limousines for birthdays, weddings and a host of other special occasions," said New York State Assemblyman Fred Thiele. "But we've seen some of these joyous days end in devastating heartbreak because the vehicles used to transport our families weren't safe or the businesses who owned those vehicles were careless. These horrific tragedies are a call to action to do everything we can to prevent another senseless crash from occurring."

In the months after the tragedy in Schoharie, it was reported that the state Department of Transportation had been investigating the limousine company involved in the crash more than a year before it occurred and had ordered the limousine off the road twice after it had failed safety inspections, Thiele said.

The reform package also includes a bill that would require the DOT and the Department of Motor Vehicles to establish and publicize a toll-free hotline that allows individuals to report safety issues regarding stretch limousine vehicles or drivers.

Thiele lauded the bill that would require the installation of approved seatbelts in all stretch limousines and that they be clearly visible, accessible and in good working condition. The legislative package also includes measures to require motor carriers to conduct pre-employment and random drug and alcohol testing of drivers who operate stretch limousines, taxis and liveries that hold nine or more passengers, including the driver.

After the Cutchogue crash, the parents of the eight young women have been unified in their cry for a green turning arrow at the Depot Lane traffic signal, despite the fact that Suffolk County has not yet installed one — and have said there are no present plans to do so.

Later, a 156-page New York Supreme Court Suffolk County Special Grand Jury Report released in Dec. 2016 included numerous safety recommendations discussed at a press conference.