Tedisco: Extend Deadline for Schoharie Limo Crash Report to Include Inspector General’s Findings

Senator Jim Tedisco today is calling on the Governor, Senator Majority Leader, and Assembly Speaker to extend the October 1^st deadline to May 31, 2023, for the New York State Stretch Limousine Passenger Safety Task Force’s Final Report so the Task Force can thoroughly review the findings of the state Inspector General’s (IG) ongoing investigation of the horrific 2018 Schoharie Limousine crash that took the lives of 20 people, including several of Tedisco’s constituents. 

 The Task Force, which by law will remain in effect until May 31, 2023, was created in the wake of the Schoharie limo crash and is required to submit its final report and recommendations to the governor and legislature for review by October 1, 2022. 

 Unless the deadline is extended, what will be missing from that final report by the Task Force is vital safety information gleaned from the IG’s investigation into the limo crash, which has been ongoing for at least a year, after Senator Tedisco repeatedly requested it.  

 Tedisco’s request to the IG was in response to the National Transportation Safety Board's report on the accident that said the state Department of Transportation and Department of Motor Vehicles share the blame with Prestige limousine operators as they had multiple opportunities to permanently remove the vehicle from operation but failed. 

 “Any so-called ‘final report’ by the state Stretch Limousine Passenger Safety Task Force that’s issued before the state Inspector General releases the findings of her investigation would be anything but final and would in fact be a total disservice to the 20 people who lost their lives, their families who want answers and justice, and the safety of all New Yorkers,” said Senator Jim Tedisco.  

 “We need the experts on the Task Force to have all the information they need to evaluate what happened, what went wrong, and then give us policy recommendations to help prevent something like this from happening again.  I’m urging the Governor and Legislative Majority Leaders to come back into session and extend the deadline for this Task Force so they can get it right and issue a comprehensive and holistic final report that will hopefully lead to policy changes that will save lives. It’s not too late to do this right,” Senator Tedisco added.