NY - Twenty Fatality Traffic Crash, Schoharie County, 6 Oct 2018

[Safeguard]

Been a while since I've been here on WS's...

Following this mind mindbogglingly sad accident in the news, I could tell there would be no other place to process it than here. I mentioned it to my dad and I could see that, "I don't want to talk about that" look come over his face... I know it's hard to dwell on such a tragic loss of life long enough to try to feel the treasures our world just lost, (and why!)...

It seems so important to me to do that. And here is the only place I seem to find others who feel as do. I find myself needing to try and take advantage of what these vibrant young people had wanted to share with the world, before their footprints are washed away... I went to all their SM and learned what they were passionate about, and who and how they loved...and "visited" with their families and friends... Kind of felt like...The ghost of happier days past, doing that...but I do feel like I got a bit of time with them that will be inaccessible to those who did not know them in real life, before too long.

And I learned some things. (These were certainly bright, dynamic people!). And I could not help but think to myself, that as Erin Vertucci reached out in text, to share her dismay at the poor condition of the "limo" ( Oh my Lord, I hate calling it that! It was a HEARSE! for God's sake and the people responsible KNEW it! Oh Uhhgg! ), As Erin saw, the bad shape of the... vehicle... so much opportunity was lost by those who boarded such a rickety ride...If something looks unsafe, AVOID getting aboard people, don't be embarrassed to make a scene or think about expense.
Never assume a for profit company is legit just because they are in business.

I wish they had demanded the driver pull over and all just got out!

They must have known, as they picked up speed on the hill, instead of slowing... what lie ahead.
How utterly terrifying.

 

[1&2&3]

With each passing day, my heart hurts worse for the families who lost loved ones in this gross tragedy.

The more information that comes out regarding the owner, and the little we have heard on the sons, it is sickening to accept and realize that such evil people exist!

The frightening part is will anyone be held accountable?

 

[dixiegirl1035]

Probably multiple pathologists.

Agree. That, and only one person who would probably need toxicology and other results before the autopsy is complete.

 

[dixiegirl1035]

With each passing day, my heart hurts worse for the families who lost loved ones in this gross tragedy.

The more information that come out..

RSBM

The frightening part is will anyone be held accountable?

His initial charge is just one charge vs. 20.

And this lawyer is the son of the person that prosecuted the father.

So I think something smells in Denmark and no, I don't think Justice is going to be done in this. There are things I don't think will be coming out that should?

 

[MsFacetious]

His initial charge is just one charge vs. 20.

And this lawyer is the son of the person that prosecuted the father.

So I think something smells in Denmark and no, I don't think Justice is going to be done in this. There are things I don't think will be coming out that should?

The defense attorney is the son of the father's defense attorney, if I recall correctly.

All the more reason to be able to use engine braking. I was taught it for driving an ordinary car back in 1980.

I agree to some extent about the road/signage/grade, but you can slow a vehicle very effectively if you can use the gears. With a manual gearbox/stick shift, it's possible to change down from 5th or 6th to 3rd and then to 2nd within 10 or 20 seconds. The vehicle will progressively lurch slower to around 20mph and these passengers would have been thrown around somewhat, but much less than they would have been in simply being thrown against the forward partition at 50 or 60 mph. The downside is that you usually wreck the gearbox in doing so.

I'm not clear about how you would use this type of braking on an automatic gearbox though. I've only driven an automatic a couple of times.

In a 2001 you would still have to "manually shift" the automatic into each gear. Just without pressing in the clutch. It would definitely be unpleasant and nerve wracking, but doable. Would certainly wreck the transmission.

In the newer automatic vehicles you just shift into drive and then there is a button to move through the gears. That would be far less nerve wracking to do, though also a bit less drastic and effective. It wouldn't damage the vehicle nearly as much, if at all.

 

[alibrarian]

The first responders received a standing ovation from members of the community.

Community gathers to thank first responders after limo crash


Recognition for the first responders, very nice to see this among the other horrible reports. It hasn't even been a week and there have been so many awful revelations related to the company, owners, and vehicle.

 

[alibrarian]

Story on Brian Hough and James Schnurr, the two men in the parking lot of the Apple Barrel.

Oswego prof, family enroute to wedding, stopped at store when limo crash killed 2 in family

After first reports this tragedy involved a wedding party in the limo, the bystanders, Mr. Hough and Mr, Schnurr, were on their way to a wedding with their family.

"The two men were standing near the vehicle with Brian's wife, Jackie Schnurr, when the limo hit, JT Hough said. The two men were hit. The other family members weren't near the vehicle."

 

[mickey2942]

Hussain did not say anything to reporters as he left court. Hussain paid bail through a bail bondsman and is scheduled to appear again in the court on Tuesday, Oct. 23.

Kindlon, speaking to reporters earlier in the day at State Police Troop G barracks in Latham, said because of the death toll, Hussain faces the possibility of being charged with 20 counts of the crime that could run consecutively in sentencing.

Limo owner's son released on bail after arraignment on homicide charge

I can't believe that they gave this guy bail. When the police went to his home, he already had bags packed, in his car, ready to go.

 

[ilovewings]

Released on bail????? what the --------???? he can just take a plane to Beirut and never come back--- that does not make sense to me.

 

[Inthedetails]

https://nypost.com/2018/10/09/4-sisters-killed-in-limo-crash-will-be-buried-together/

A group funeral will be held for Amy King Steenburg, 29, Allison King, 32, Mary King Dyson, 33, and Abigail King Jackson, 34 — as well as Mary and Abigail’s husbands — on Saturday, the sisters’ grieving brother told The Post in an exclusive interview Tuesday.

“The girls are being buried together, although I don’t think I can say buried because all my sisters are being cremated,” sibling Tom King said outside his parents’ home in rural Amsterdam, about 35 miles northwest of Albany.

Amy's age is listed as 29. The group was out celebrating her 30th birthday, but she never made it to that number.

Sometimes it takes awhile for the emotions of a case to hit me. This one hit when I saw the number 29.

Look how close in age all the sisters were - four of them within five years.

jmo

 

[Cryptic]

Released on bail????? what the --------???? he can just take a plane to Beirut and never come back--- that does not make sense to me.

He probably needed to surrender his passport.

This would make international travel difficult, but as you implied, by no means impossible. This is especially true as he might be a dual citizen and can obtain both US and Pakistani passports.

 

[bears10]

He probably needed to surrender his passport.

This would make international travel difficult, but as you implied, by no means impossible. This is especially true as he might be a dual citizen and can obtain both US and Pakistani passports.

Yes he had to surrender his US passport and Pakistani passport if he has one. But considering his dad is an old pro at fake IDs, I wouldn't be surprised if the son was able to flee the country in one way or another.

 

[Inthedetails]

https://www-m.cnn.com/2018/10/10/us/new-york-limo-crash-wife-driver/?r=https://www-m.cnn.com/2018/10/10/politics/kavanaugh-complaints-judicial-misconduct-john-roberts-transfer/index.html?r=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F

Of course, the grieving widow of the driver, with her attorneys, blaming the company. Not the fact that her husband was driving without the correct license.

Would the correct license have prevented the accident in an unsafe vehicle on an unsafe road?

jmo

 

[Cryptic]

Yes he had to surrender his US passport and Pakistani passport if he has one. But considering his dad is an old pro at fake IDs, I wouldn't be surprised if the son was able to flee the country in one way or another.

I agree completely.

The totality of the circumstances, including his father's uhmm..."expertise" as you pointed out and the fact that Pakistani consulate staff or government officials in Pakistan are probably willing "quickly facilitate" issuing a new passport (provided the "special fees" are paid in advance) make him a high flight risk.

 

[Isabelle]

He probably needed to surrender his passport.

This would make international travel difficult, but as you implied, by no means impossible. This is especially true as he might be a dual citizen and can obtain both US and Pakistani passports.

Considering his dad’s history, I’m betting the son has multiple passports and will be out of the country before the end of the week, if not sooner. Justice is ridiculous!!! Bail for killing 20 people????

Wonder if LE are keeping an eye on him or does this only happen on television shows? He should be in jail with no bail!!!

 

[Isabelle]

Would the correct license have prevented the accident in an unsafe vehicle on an unsafe road?

jmo

No, it would not have prevented the accident. It does escalate the pain and agony for the survivors to know that there were so many violations and such wreckless actions that caused so many deaths, for no good reason.

 

[Cryptic]

Considering his dad’s history, I’m betting the son has multiple passports and will be out of the country before the end of the week, if not sooner. Justice is ridiculous!!! Bail for killing 20 people????

Wonder if LE are keeping an eye on him or does this only happen on television shows? He should be in jail with no bail!!!

I agree with him getting bail as a concept as he did not murder the twenty people. Rather, they could well have been killed by the totality of the circumstances: driver error, unsafe vehicle and unsafe intersection. I just would have made the bail rather high.

Would the correct license have prevented the accident in an unsafe vehicle on an unsafe road?
jmo

It would not of. The driver, however, paying attention to legal traffic signs, even if they were not comprehensive could well of prevented the accident.

 

[Safeguard]

Ever since learning that one person, and one person only, survived the impact and was Air Lifted, (but did not, ultimately survive, sadly), I couldn't help but wonder who that was, (among other questions that kept circling around in my mind like, where was this person sitting? Seatbelt? weight? last person thrown forward perhaps? Why this one, when most others had to be identified using dental records and such!). I was not really surprised to learn who it was though...Something about her pictures stood out to me, as one, who could have possibly been the one, ( another was one of the young men, 31 yr old Matt Coons. ). 26 year old Amanda Halse.

"Karina Halse said Amanda was airlifted to Albany Medical Center before she died."

"That her sister fought until the end was not a surprise to Karina Halse, who described Amanda as “strong-headed.”

“She was really stubborn,” Halse said. “Unfortunately, she didn’t make it, but as soon as I heard she was the one transported I was like, ‘That’s my sister."

Such a shame, so close to a miracle for that family, you could almost taste it, only to have it snatched away...

On the other hand, perhaps she would have had to live with horrible injuries, and the burden of being robbed of her world once full of friends and laughter, and having the burden of reliving that ride in her mind forever.
Families of 20 people killed in limousine crash left reeling - WXXV 25

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Authorities charged a limousine company owner's son with criminally negligent homicide Wednesday in connection with the weekend crash in upstate New York that killed 20 people, according to a New York State Police statement.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo flatly stated this week that the vehicle failed a state inspection, meaning it shouldn't have been in service, and that the driver did not have a proper license to operate the vehicle. Kindlon says neither claim is true.
Lisinicchia, who worked for Prestige as needed, had been with the company for years, the attorney said, and was a "very reliable employee and a great driver."
The driver's brother, Keith Lisinicchia, told CNN affiliate WRGB that Scott Lisinicchia also drove tractor trailers and dump trucks and took his job seriously. He can't see his brother driving without the proper license, he told the station.
The driver's wife, too, says he was an excellent driver and told CBS that she doesn't understand why there is so much focus on the license "because even if he didn't have the proper license, this still would have happened, and I feel like he still would have got blamed."
Local, state and federal investigators are still trying to figure out why Lisinicchia plowed the Excursion through a stop sign and into a parked SUV on Saturday.
Limo company owner's son pleads not guilty to charge in connection with deadly New York crash - CNN

 

[imstilla.grandma]

The operator of the company involved in the deadly limousine crash that killed 20 people in New York State is free on bail after pleading not guilty Wednesday to a single count of criminally negligent homicide. Twenty-eight-year-old Nauman Hussain could face more charges.
Since Saturday's crash, questions have swirled around Prestige Limo and its record of safety and illegal licensing. Hussain's father, who owns the company, is out of the country and has not been charged with a crime.
The limo driver in the crash, Scott Lisinicchia was reportedly stopped in August for not having a proper license to drive the limo. But Lisinicchia's widow told "CBS This Morning" her husband was a careful driver.
Limo company operator arrested on homicide charges had past run-in with law