In New York Limo Crash, Son of Company Owner Is Arrested After Fatal Crash

If the limo company had received "repeated safety violations", why was it still allowed to operate?

Well, I've never been in a limousine before and I certainly won't get in one now that I understand the mechanics of them. I'm shocked that this is even allowed considering all the regulations behind automobile safety. What was made evident from this incident is how criminal this family is and has been for a long time. I hope they are punished to the highest accountability.

I wonder if these companies even have liability insurance or how much? As a physician if I injured or killed one person it would cost hundreds to millions of dollar let alone 20 young healthy adults.

Had there not been a “brick wall” waiting for any vehicle with brake problems we would have had far fewer deaths. We must learn from this accident. We must fix problem intersections like this one.

Proves regulations only regulate those willing to be regulated. The owner, its operator and the driver scoffed at the laws and we now wait for justice to take its course. At the end, only the severity of punishment will affect other scofflaws who, as we speak, are placing their customers in unspeakable peril.

Usually, in an accident a driver is responsible. Since the driver of the infamous limo is dead, this case must be closed. There are sufficient evidence that this accident occured due to the faulty engineering of the road, where there was supposed to be traffic light, they had posted only a STOP sign. The stop signs are usually invisible in fog or the bus or trucks hide it. The T-Shape roads are always dangerous, and more accident preventive measures should be given on them. In this case it seems that the NTSB and other local authorities totally ignore it.

So I guess Hussain must be back in Pakistan by now, nice to be let out on bail.

Kindlon, the attorney for Hussain, blames the road and intersection. No wonder attorneys can sometimes, often, be despised. We need to wonder how many limo services have been doing checks on their vehicles this week, and examining their driver’s licenses. Nothing, not anything, will ever bring back the lives of twenty innocent people. The owners and management of this creepy, corrupt limousine business, Prestige, no less, need to be punished for a long, long time, and the keys thrown away - the prison keys. Condolences to the families of this very tragic event.

$50,000 Bail? $2,500 for each death? Is homicide decriminalized in New York State? Before marijuana?

A few months ago you published a feature on the dangerous occupation of being a garbage collector in NYC. The trucks were uninspected and unsafe, yet it appeared that nobody actively sought to do anything about it. Now we read about a fly by night limo business with unlicensed drivers operating unsafe vehicles. Where's the outrage when unscrupulous business owners kill people?

Why the limousine was allowed to stretch, and why the NTSB was sleeping at that moment. Whats about the road, still it has been not re-engineered. Are the administration waiting for another fatal accident?

The driver had nothing to do with this? I understand that there is a need to show that action is being taken but aren't we jumping the gun a little bit?

This presents a most troubling view of our motor vehicle laws and regulations and how unenforceable they are. Here is a vehicle with multiple safety violations and a driver not liscensed to drive that category of vehicle - yet the owner of the limo company continued to book customers and as we now tragically know, put them in grave danger. This happens every day - unsafe drivers in unsafe vehicles. How can this ever be controlled?

Regarding these monstrosities, we as a society should gradually move to a different way of transporting large parties to events. Instead of the gaudy spectacle of a stretch limo we should all get used to weddings with a fleet of Town Cars. They may not be as spectacular but frankly, 20 people getting out of six vehicles as opposed to one long car holds zero meaning for me.

Something doesn't add up here. And as usual, the authorities are ready to rush to judgement and lay blame on the easiest target. Yes, there were inspection issues apparently, but notice that no one states exactly what these were? It really does matter if the problems were minimal, like a window washer problem, or major, like bad brakes. The driver didn't even try to stop? And the fact that the owner is an FBI informant opens up all kinds of possibilities and scenarios. But in the age of social media, the public and the authorities make up their minds based on accusations and innuendo. That's no way to run a state or country for that matter.

I would never get into a stretch limo. When they take a regular car and cut it in half the material that they use to lengthen the car is not up to the standards of the materials and techniques used to manufacture the original car. Cars these days are quite cocoon-like. Cutting the car in half and adding panels to it totally compromises its rigidity and the built-in safety equipment and features. This thing, a 2001 Excursion, barely qualifies as a limo. Underneath, an Excursion is a truck, based upon the F-150, with a passenger compartment dropped onto its frame. Who'd want to ride around in that junk? There's nothing limo-like about it.

If Mr. Hussain Jr. somehow flees the U.S., New York State and Governor Cuomo will have a lot to answer for.

This is such a horrible tragedy Innocent people lost in the prime of their lives Two things I feel the bond was way too low it should have been at least $500,000 Also there was an article in the ny post about a gentleman who rented the exact same limo and driver ; had the same experience but lived to tell about it In a perfect world the whole family should be jailed for life and their assets seized but that won’t restore the 20 lives that were tragically and needlessly lost My condolences to the families and friends

Many comments focus on guilt, and they raise the question of whether crime and negligence differ in kind or merely in degree. One difference is that a significant fraction of criminals are punished, while a great majority of negligent people are not. The negligence of the limousine owners may have been more likely to cause a tragedy than our own acts of texting while driving (or skimping on repairs or skipping sleep or sipping whatever) but these too could prove lethal. I'm not complaining that I'm not being punished, but I'm not forgetting that fact, either. Turning from blame to prevention, some constructive comments have examined 1) how authorities deal with non-complying carriers before accidents occur, and 2) the fundamental safety of "stretch" vehicles. Regarding the carriers, we voters must empower our officials to impound vehicles rather than merely issue notices, and give them a means to store impounded vehicles. As for "stretching" we need a study of how and by whom it is done. Giant automakers develop dizzyingly complex vehicles to microscopic tolerances to withstand ordinary stress. If a local garage then cuts the car in half and inserts jury-rigged segments of drive shaft, fluid lines, cables, chassis, etc. (remember "unibody construction?") the failure of the vehicle under increased stress seems assured. Let's show our sympathy to the bereaved by honoring these victims with an effort to make this mode of travel safer in their name.

An earlier version of this article stated that the bail was set at $150,000. Now it states $50,000. Criminally negligent homicide (at least initially) involving 20 victims and such a small bail ? Seems odd. Hope he had to surrender his passport.

The fact that so many people died in this accident clearly indicates the very strong possiblity that no one was wearing a seat belt. Just like on air travel it's important to wear your seat belt at all times, most of the injuries sustained in turbulence are to those walking in the aisle of the plane, or not wearing a seatbelt while seated. Certainly the condition of the Limo and the performance of the driver are to blame, but it's also likely that that if neither of those was the case and the cause had instead been the fault of another driver crossing the center line and striking them head on the resulting death toll would still be just as high. As the article stated "And while drivers of such elongated vehicles are required to wear seatbelts, passengers in the back are not." Part of the appeal of these vehicles is their roominess so that people can freely move about and mingle without being restricted in any way. Sadly as long as that is the case the passengers are choosing of their own volition to put their lives in the hands of fate. I seriously wonder how many of these same people would choose to drive or ride in a regular car without wearing a seatbelt?

I wish there had been some way for the young couple booking this limo to find out about the many violations so they could have avoided this place. My daughter has been friends with Abby Jackson since grade school, they went to each other's weddings, and their husbands were friends. When my daughter called me this weekend to tell me about Abby I couldn't wrap my mind around the fact that Allison, Mary, and Amy were also in the car, along with so many others. The magnitude is unbelievable. On Friday we are going to a service for 8 of the victims at a church in Amsterdam. Eight people. And that's not even half of the people involved. My heart breaks for them all, each one of them. This could have been any of our children.

The inspectors should be empowered to put a boot on a wheel of deficient limos until the problem is fixed. Also, I'll bet authorities are concerned that the father and son are flight risks. It looks like the father may have already flown the coop.

I'm always bumfuzzled why these types of stories get a comment section. While those that should get one, do not. (namely opinion pieces by guest contributors, etc) To what end? All I learned is that IF I Goggle-map the location, there seems to be any number of physical issues with the location, on top of the owners being extremely and willfully negligent.

The Hussein family seem to be career criminals who have totally flouted New York State law at every turn -- engaged in buying and selling driver's licenses, running sleazy and unsafe limo business, and now attempting to impersonate each other when they were pulled over on the road today. Zero respect for the law, and yet they were useful to the FBI at some point and so have been allowed to continue to run amok... and now 20 innocent people are dead, families are shattered, and Upstate communities are grieving. Who looked the other way on this sleazy family, why were they allowed to continue operating? (I personally hate everything Trump stands for, including his brutality toward immigrants, but the Husseins are everything that Trump supporters are thinking of when they rail against "criminal furriners getting away with murder." Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.)

While waiting on developments about this crash (please don't call it an "accident"), people may wish to Google the Avon Mountain Rd. crash of July 2005, as well as the subsequent trial and conviction of David Wilcox, 81, who was sentenced to six years in prison for allowing poorly maintained trucks to go on the road.

Arresting the son seems justified just by the details that are known ( a vehicle that wasn't supposed t be on the road at all, a driver who wasn't properly licensed licensed), and might be a way to get the fathers' "attention."

It sounds like the vast majority of the blame rests with the limo company, followed by the toothless inspections, but there are some basic improvements to the intersection that can be easily made. In Michigan, usually if not always when rural state highways meet in a "T," there are two flashing red lights suspended over the intersection for the direction that stops, and flashing yellow lights in the other direction. Also, there are stop signs by both lanes for the direction that stops, and advance warning signs for both lanes.

Essentially no investigation but we have an arrest. An immigrant of course, and a Muslim to boot. How politically convenient? The vehicle inspectors and the state regulators will get off scott free. Flint, Michigan, they’ll all receive good pensions. In the end it will likely be driver error. There will be more regulations, more regulators, more well paid lawyers. But nothing will be done to see that the driver is trained, certified, and paid enough to do a responsible job. Compare party drivers to airline pilots. I would argue that the former should be nearly as qualified and compensared as the latter.

A stock Ford Excursion weighs about 7,000 lbs. The maximum operating weight is about 9,000. An elongated chassis and body would probably add at least 1,000 lbs. The weight of 18 adults would be greater than 3,000 lbs. The vehicle was operating at least 2,000 lbs, more than 20% over capacity. And, the vehicle was old, had a lot of miles on it and operating over weight routinely. The brakes probably over-heated going down the long hill, if not failed outright. That car was an accident waiting to happen.

It is a travesty that it will take a tragedy of this magnitude to effect change in the transportation industry. The NYS-DOT regulation for putting a unsafe, out of service vehicle back in service: “If serious defects are discovered, the vehicle will be placed out-of-service and the repairs must be made before the vehicle can be driven again. If a vehicle that has been placed out-of-service is operated before the necessary repairs have been made, a penalty of $1,000 - $5,000 may be assessed.” This should be amended to from a monetary penalty to a criminal one.

I have seen many reports on this accident, and over my lifetime have worked many car accidents. How could this many young people not possibly survive this accident, even to the point that emergency personnel might not find possible heart beat. I feel the medical examiner, IN MY OPINION, and what we are not being told, as bad as the accident looks, and the condition of the vehicle in all articles in this terrible accident. CARBON MONOXIDE is probably the main cause of death for not only the driver, but all riders. They probably were all near passing out to begin with, if not already so. Why should there not have been even one of the riders, if not more, in a weak state still being able to survive this terrible accident. You wait and see,

I could only laugh when I read in another Times article that the Hussain father was the one who set up the young kids from upstate who ended up in jail as alleged terrorists planning to blow up synagogues in the Bronx. That whole sting operation smelled from the beginning, in my opinion, and the fact that the best "operative" whatever "law enforcement agency" was responsible for that could get was the dopey fraudster Mr. Hussain comes as no surprise.

Google Map the road, with the "Googleguy" to see it in day time 42.700380, -74.301722 This wasn't the road doing it Straight, marked, warning out ,not the greatest , but there This was a crime. Most of the investigation is to clarify which one(s).

If a vehicle fails an inspection - especially one used to carry paying passengers - like cabs and limos- why is it not impounded and taken out of service immediately. It should not be returned to the owner. It should be compulsory that the vehicle be repaired or destroyed.

What a terrible and completely avoidable accident. My thoughts and prayers to the victims' families. I don't understand the suggestion that the road itself is somehow at fault, as the limo firm's lawyer suggests. In photos, it looks like a typical T intersection. Though not stated outright here, it sounds like the vehicles breaks failed, which was my initial thought after hearing about this crash. With all these failed inspections, it's mind boggling that anyone would put it into service. Criminal, indeed.

My thoughts are they were coming from Amsterdam heading to Cooperstown, why did the driver take the route he did when it would have made more sense to take route 7 down to get on 88. From being a retired bus driver and having done these types of trips that would have been the route I would have used as it is more of a level run. This is a situation of why and what if’s that will never be answered. Prayers to all involved!!

It doesn't sound like a road problem to me. I am surprised at the early arrest though since nothing about the cause of the crash has been released yet. They may have more information than they have released or they were worried he was going to flee the country.

Stretched cars need regulation. Seatbelts are needed by everyone in a moving vehicle. Period. No excuses; and this includes police and emergency response people.

I don't think that the condition of the road, the incline or the lack of safety markers was the real cause of this accident. If you look at a map you'll see that there is a long straightaway before this intersection. It would not be a danger to an alert driver in an adequately maintained vehicle.

"He added that Mr. Hussain’s father was “worried sick about his own son” and may return to the United States to assist in the investigation.” when donkeys fly

Should also look into "duck boats" - another industry that kludges together unsafe vehicles.

Only 900 feet before the stop sign is a "50 mph ahead" sign. If I see "50 mph ahead" then I am not expecting a stop sign only 12 seconds later! This misleading sign should be looked at as a factor in the repeated accidents at that intersection. Here is the sign on google street view: https://www.google.com/maps/@42.7026366,-74.2998371,3a,60y,250.85h,82.9t...!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sAaGs4l9_jmtJlQNs-GjhpA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Nauman Hussain and Shahed Hussain should both go to jail for YEARS. The limousine was a piece of junk. They had been told that. They had been warned. They had been told to keep it OFF the road. They KNEW it was unsafe. And yet, they put 17 young people in it - sisters and brothers and friends and parents and daughters and sons - and they all died. Because the Hussains really didn't care if the limo was safe, what they really cared about was the money. And now we will have children growing up without their parents and parents growing old without their children and sisters and brothers growing older without their siblings and people whose lives are ruined. I still tear up every time I read this story, especially for the families who lost two sons and the family that lost four daughters. This was preventable. It was not simply an accident on a highway where one good person looks down or is distracted and something horrible happens, which is awful enough. This limo shouldn't have been on the road at all. The Hussains are guilty as heck. The older Hussain needs to be brought back by force to stand charges in an American court room. The Hussains should not walk free, enjoying the weather and coffee and restaurants when the victims' families can barely get out of bed and the tears over this accident will flow for decades. Prayers to the families, may your beautiful memories of your family and friends bring you peace one day. And may the Hussains rot in jail.

These types of tragedies are borne of an antigovernment, or anti-regulatory, mindset in which people need to die first before the government is justified in pursuing industries that endanger people's health and safety. People will say, "Laws and regulations already existed and they weren't enforced," as if we don't need any more government intrusion in our lives. But in an anti-regulatory atmosphere where profit maximization has priority over safety and where there is an attitude that government is the source of all problems in society, regulations aren't enforced and lawbreakers aren't pursued, and scofflaws are allowed to lay waste to innocent lives. Imagine if we had a robust regulatory system in this country, yeah the masters of the universe wouldn't be able to buy a second yacht, but so many more innocent people would be alive today. Think about that the next time some politician crows about "cutting regulations" as a prescription for economic growth.