Posted on 10/08/2018 7:04:14 AM PDT by ETL
A limousine that crashed and killed 20 people in upstate New York on Saturday was reportedly in terrible condition, and was a replacement vehicle after the groups rented bus broke down before reaching its destination.
All 18 inside the vehicle were killed, along with two bystanders after the 2001 Ford Excursion limousine believed to be headed to a birthday party -- ran through an intersection and struck a parked 2015 Toyota Highlander outside the Apple Barrel Country Store.
-snip-
The limousine was traveling southwest on state Route 30 in Schoharie, about 170 miles north of New York City and 43 miles west of Albany, when it went through the intersection with Route 30A and struck the parked Toyota Highlander.
The site of the crash is notorious for accidents and has a been a point of concern among local residents for years.
"More accidents than I can count," Jessica Kirby, managing director of the Apple Barrel Country Store and Cafe told the AP in an email. "We have been asking for something to be done for years."
The intersection underwent construction in 2008 following a deadly accident, Kirby told the AP.
-snip-
Schoharie Town Supervisor Alan Tavenner told the Times Union of Albany that transportation officials attempted to make the intersection safer about seven years ago.
The improvements, however, didnt seem to work.
"There have been tractor trailers that have come barreling down that hill and it was a miracle they didn't kill somebody," Tavenner said.
"I honestly think it was a more dangerous intersection than it was before," he told The New York Times.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
No brakes, car was in overflow parking area and limo just hit a portion of it. Sounds like 60+mph into a ditch/embankment...dead stop.
Passengers were people around 30-years old.
Still trying to wrap my head around how they _all_ died. My guess is few or no one was belted in and they all knocked their heads on something or one another.
The news I heard on the radio said two pedestrians were also struck and killed, yeeesh.
Freegards
The ties could be seen in the ditch as they were recovered after the limo was pulled out. The driver's wife gave an interview at 9am, I missed it.
Yes, apparently two people in the Apple Barrel country store parking lot.
A seatbelt in a sideways seat would just more easily snap a neck. Only the 2/3 people in the far back front-facing seats would have a chance at survival with seat belts.
Shut up and pay yer taxes, peasant...
Look at image 5 of 8 here. two tires pulled out of ditch, totally separated from wheel hub. These are attached with hardened steep lugs, hard to break is an understatement.
I recently had a front brake line rubber hose blow out on my 2003 Jeep Liberty. Luckily I was just pulling out of a parking spot when it happened, so when the pedal sunk to the floor I was only going 3 MPH, and pumping the brakes provided some pedal resistance and braking action.
It's almost certainly a brake failure that caused this accident. That, or a strange jihad attack.
Sounds like brake failure is an option, no skid marks.
Yep. You have a vehicle with tires and brakes which were designed for the standard size vehicle, being expected to work for a vehicle with 2-3 times the weight.
Stretch limos are the new Duck Boat.
18 people at 150 pounds is over 3,000 pounds, that’s hard to stop if the car was going 60+mph at the bottom of the hill. Driver was said to be not from thee, so it’s either he didn’t know thee was a stop sign or the brakes totally failed.
My Willys jeep brakes have to be reworked completely due to age and rust.
Hopefully in December, I will send it off for all the underneath surgery it needs.
No lift here and my back and knees don’t handle concrete well.
That's the story in a nut shell. Plus it was a T-intersection. Nowhere to go.
If I end up doing the job myself on my Z71, I’m probably going to rewroute a couple of lines. Especially the right front.
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