Stricter limousine regulations
NEW HYDE PARK, N.Y. — United States Senator Chuck Schumer called on the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to pass stricter regulations concerning the operations of limousine companies. Limousine companies’ services are in high demand this time of year because of prom and wedding season. However, the surviving family members of several young women who were killed in a limo accident on Long Island want to avoid the tragedy they endured when their four daughters died in a horrific limousine collision in 2015.
U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer appeared at New Hyde Park High School on Long Island to address concerns that limousine regulation amendments do not appear on the NTSB’s list of priorities for 2020. The senator publicly called upon the agency to make limousine safety a priority so that no other families have to endure the agony the families of four teenage girls from Long Island through which they suffered.
Safety groups have compiled a list of safety standards they want to see become approved by the NTSB and approved by the U.S. Congress. Those proposed safety standards include making safety belts mandatory along with mandatory airbags stowed overhead that operate like side-cushion airbags. Finally, the group advocated for passing regulations that obligated each limousine company to have all vehicles in their fleet inspected annually by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
As the situation appears to be at this time, many limos have seatbelts installed. New York law affords the limousine passenger the choice of whether he or she would use them. The president of the National Limousine Association opined that retrofitting limousines with side airbags would not be feasible. Instead, he thought that manufacturers need to make design changes during the manufacturing process.
The NTSB did not indicate whether it would take Senator Schumer’s suggestion. However, the NTSB now investigates deadly limousine accidents such as the crash that killed four teens in 2015 and the tragic accident in upstate New York last fall that killed 20.
