ALBANY, N.Y. — The National Transportation Safety Board called Wednesday for new seat belt requirements for limousines following a crash in upstate New York that killed 20 people.
The board released safety recommendations almost a year after a Ford Excursion SUV that had been modified into a huge stretch limo blew through a T-intersection in rural Schoharie and went into the woods. The crash near a popular country store on Oct. 6, 2018, killed the driver, 17 passengers on a birthday outing and two pedestrians.
The safety board recommended to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that lap and shoulder seat belts be required on all new vehicles modified to be used as limousines. The agency also recommended that seating systems in these vehicles meet minimum performance standards to ensure their integrity during a crash.
The carnage in the Schoharie crash, the board wrote, “might have been mitigated by a combination of adequate seat integrity, well-designed passenger lap/shoulder belts, and proper seat belt use.”
None of the 17 passengers appeared to have worn available seat belts at the time of the crash, the board said, and the belts were poorly designed and “would not have provided adequate protection.”
