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Authorities continue limousine crash investigation

On Behalf of | Oct 16, 2018 | Wrongful Death |

Some Georgia residents may have heard about a deadly limousine crash that occurred on Oct. 6 in New York. The limousine did not come to a stop at an intersection, hit a parked vehicle with no passengers in it and went into a ravine. In all, 20 people died in the accident. The limousine company owner was later taken into custody by police who allegedly said he appeared to be trying to flee and had suitcases in his car.

In March, the limousine had been taken in for inspection and cited for two instances of brake failure by the New York State Department of Transportation. In September, it was taken in a second time, and on that inspection, the DOT noted that problems from the earlier inspection were not addressed.

Investigators have found that the limousine was submitted for inspection using a different license plate in September. The VIN numbers remained the same, and reportedly the violations noted were for the same limousine. Authorities are looking into why the license plate would have been changed.

When people lose family members in an accident like this one, they may be able to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the party or parties responsible and get compensation for their losses. This lawsuit might include the vehicle driver as well as the owner of the company. Since this owner has been detained in association with the case, there might also be a criminal trial. This would generally occur before the civil trial, but if there is no criminal trial or if a person is found not guilty in a criminal trial, the civil trial could still result in compensation to families since there is a lower burden of proof.

Source: Rochester First, “Limo in fatal crash used two different license plates for inspection“, Oct. 12, 2018

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