1
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
On October 6, 2018, a stretch limousine
suffered brake failure while traveling downhill
on New York State Route 30 in the Town of Schoharie, New York. Without the ability to slow
or stop, the limousine
accelerated to over 100 mph, crossed through a T-intersection at the
bottom of the hill into a parking lot and struck a parked vehicle, before barreling into a ravine
where it came to rest after colliding with the embankment and several trees. Devastatingly, the
crash killed all 17 passengers, the driver, and two pedestrians who had been standing near the
parked vehicle. At the time of the incident, the limousine, which was owned by Prestige
Limousine and Chauffeur Service
, was operating without legal authority and had numerous
documented and unresolved safety issues, including various violations related to its brakes.
There were multiple investigations into the tragedy, including one conducted by the
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)
, an independent federal agency with expertise in
transportation safety matters. The NTSB, which issued a comprehensive report detailing its
findings in September 2020, attributed the probable cause of the crash to Prestige’s “egregious
disregard for safety” in operating the limousine for a passenger charter despite known
mechanical defects. Nauman Hussain, the manager of Prestige, is currently being prosecuted on
charges of Manslaughter in the Second Degree and Criminally Negligent Homicide.
In its conclusions, the NTSB also cited shortfalls on the part of the New York State
Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and Department of Transportation (DOT) as contributing
factors to the crash. More specifically, the NTSB cited deficiencies in DMV’s vehicle
registration process and DOT’s ineffective oversight of the limousine as having allowed its
owner to skirt safety requirements and evade more rigorous inspection requirements while
continuing to operate the vehicle.
According to a Highway Accident Report issued by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the
limousine involved in the crash was a 2001 Ford Excursion limousine that had been modified from its original eight
passenger capacity to accommodate 18 passengers. For a comprehensive history of the limousine’s structural
alterations and registration history prior to its acquisition by the owner at the time of the crash, see NTSB Report,
Section 1.5.2, accessible here: https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/HAR2003.pdf
New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law currently defines the term “stretch” limousine as an altered (meaning
with a chassis that was altered post-manufacture) motor vehicle having a seating capacity of nine or more
passengers, including the driver, used in the business of transporting passengers for compensation. VTL §
375(54)(c)(i). The vehicle at issue here will be referred to interchangeably as a “limousine” or “stretch limousine.”
Prestige, a Saratoga County-based company, is owned by Shahed Hussain, the father of Nauman Hussain. Prestige
also conducted business under the names Hasy Limousine and Saratoga Luxury Limousine. For the purposes of this
report, all three entities will be referred to as “Prestige.”
The statutory authority and jurisdiction of the NTSB is defined by 49 U.S.C. § 1131.