Disaster Limo crash kills 20 people

https://www.foxnews.com/us/new-york-limousine-crash-victims-included-newlyweds-brothers

A limousine crash in upstate New York on Saturday killed 20 people, officials have said. Now, portraits of the victims, including two pairs of newlyweds, have started to emerge.

Officials said all 18 people in the limousine died, as well as two pedestrians. The limo was said to be heading to a friend's birthday party.

Rich Steenburg, 34, his 29-year-old sibling Axel Steenburg and Axel’s wife Amy all were in the limousine and died, the brothers’ stepfather, Lester Andrews, told the New York Times.

“[Axel and Amy] rented the limo with some families,” Andrews told the newspaper. “There’s just a lot of confusion, so many people died.”

The couple had tied the knot this past summer, according to Andrews.

A GoFundMe page is seeking help with funeral costs for the siblings.

Both Steenburg brothers worked for GlobalFoundries, the Albany Times-Union reported. It added that Amanda Rivenburg, a friend of Amy's, also died.

LIMOUSINE CRASHES IN NEW YORK, KILLING 20, AFTER FAILING TO STOP AT INTERSECTION, OFFICIALS SAY

The victims also included parents Abby and Adam Jackson.

“Archer, 4 years old, Elle, 16 months, tragically lost their parents, Adam and Abby, on October 6th in a horrific car accident,” a GoFundMe page says.

Newlyweds Erin Vertucci and Shane McGowan also were killed.

Valerie Abeling, Vertucci's aunt, spoke through tears while giving the news. She said her own daughter had been invited along but couldn't go.

Speaking of the couple, Abeling said Vertucci “was a beautiful, sweet soul; he was too,” Abeling said.

The couple was married at a “beautiful wedding" in June at a venue in upstate New York, Abeling said.

She added, “They had everything going for them.”

Vertucci was 34 and McGowan was 30. They met through Abeling’s daughter.

Vertucci, who grew up in Amsterdam, New York, was an administrative assistant at St. Mary’s Healthcare in Amsterdam.

Saturday's crash in Schoharie was the deadliest transportation incident in the U.S. since a 2009 plane crash in Buffalo, New York, killed 50 people, officials said.

Fucking awful. A car crash so bad the only thing worse was a fucking plane crash almost 10 years ago.

 

[Keystone]

Never been in a limo. This sure as shit makes me never want to get in one. RIP to the victims.

 

[TowinKarz]

I'm voting the driver was a dumbass.... you'd be surprised how many taxi/limo/box truck/"fleet" drivers are idiots because you don't need any special training beyond a valid "C" class license and maybe an endorsement or two if you're diving what qualified as a "bus", but even that is earned with book learning and passing an exam, not driving related.

 

[Truant]

Tighter regulation on limousines please.

 

[Jewelsmakerguy]

The kill count on this one is amazing.

Not even one person in the vehicle survived, and they managed to take 2 pedestrians with them.

This is fucking terrible.

F

RIP

Could have been worse. They could have crashed in a busy intersection and made the kill count higher from other drivers and pedestrians. I mean it is New York after all. the fact there wasn't more kills outside the limo is amazing in and of itself given the size of the accident. Hell, the fact no one in the Toyota died (assuming it didn't contain the other two who died) amazes me.

Still, this is a huge tragedy, and my heart goes out to the rest of the families who lost their loved ones.

 

[kidatari]

saw this news on Yahoos homepage when this morning but was half awake and thought it was mass shooting or terrorist attack, but cleaned eyes, and it was a damn Limo crash, WTF?!

I read the article, but does not give well details what caused the Limo crash to kill everyone.
All I know, the limo was driving above speed limit, hit a parked car and two pedestrians. That's it

But did the Limo explode on impact, Tbone lots of trees, Limo flipped while throwing passengers out. I just find this so damn crazy everyone died in the Limo. What sounds like a regular car crash

Really sucks , RIP victims

 

[Sinner's Sandwich]

Fucking tragic

RIP

 

[UselessRubberKeyboard]

Limos don't require seatbelts in the passenger area

I'm guessing that'll be the first change the NTSB recommend, which will cause a lot of grumbling about seatbelts interfering in partying etc. Unless the limo was hit by a truck or a train (or drove off a cliff I don't know about in NYC), I can't imagine everyone inside dying if seatbelts had been used.

The whole thing is horrific. All my feels for the surviving families of those killed.

 

[sasazuka]

Never been in a limo. This sure as shit makes me never want to get in one. RIP to the victims.

It depends on the limousine. The cartoonishly-long stretch limos that are made by aftermarket customizers from cars or SUVs chopped in two, ruining their structural integrity, and then stretched out with pieces that don't have the same integrity as the original vehicles can be deathtraps.

Proper limousines from Bentley, Rolls-Royce, Mercedes-Benz/Maybach, Cadillac, and Lincoln are purpose-built by the manufacturer, often on bus or truck chassis, and are as solid as any other heavy road vehicle. You're probably safer riding in any of those limos than even in a typical SUV. Assuming you buckle up of course.

 

[Zaragoza]

This is incredibly sad. Fuck.

 

[Flying_with_the_Penguins]

The limo was said to be heading to a friend's birthday party.

This is the worst possible scenario I can think of for nobody showing up at your birthday party.

 

[SiccDicc]

Apparently the cause of this is an intersection the transportation officials allegedly "fixed" to make safer. The people that live around the damned thing say they likely made it worse as the close calls have increased, particularly with tractor trailers, that said you're going down a hill into an intersection in a limo - fuck any car - with 20 people - any people - you fucking slow it down. You don't go ten miles over the speed limit.

We really need to start regulating limo drivers or changing the class of the vehicle.

 

[Regu]

I'm impressed that not a single dashcam has come foward at all, I haven't seen a single car without a dashcam in years.

 

[trigon]

Apparently the cause of this is an intersection the transportation officials allegedly "fixed" to make safer. The people that live around the damned thing say they likely made it worse as the close calls have increased, particularly with tractor trailers, that said you're going down a hill into an intersection in a limo - fuck any car - with 20 people - any people - you fucking slow it down. You don't go ten miles over the speed limit.

We really need to start regulating limo drivers or changing the class of the vehicle.

That or the vehicles brakes failed. Im sure the investigation will get to the bottom of this.

 

[SiccDicc]

That or the vehicles brakes failed. Im sure the investigation will get to the bottom of this.

I doubt the brakes failed. Momentum is more likely the culprit given the same problem happens to people with trailers.

 

[trigon]

I doubt the brakes failed. Momentum is more likely the culprit given the same problem happens to people with trailers.

Fair point, but like i said the investigation should be able to pin down what actually happened.

 

[Übertroon]

Sure is a tragedy, but why are the victims immediately getting gofundme pages? Is that just something Americans do these days?

 

[trigon]

Sure is a tragedy, but why are the victims immediately getting gofundme pages? Is that just something Americans do these days?

Yeah. Remember that GFM page where the people raised money for a homeless guy and when they got 5 figures they kept the money for themselves?

Seems to me theres a decently thriving industry in people leeching funds off of people with too much empathy and money.

 

[Dick Pooman]

The NY Post updated the story saying that the limo blew a stop sign at a T-Bone intersection going 60mph, hit two people, then hit some trees where it finally ended up in a ditch. There is mention of there being skid marks, but there really wasn't any clarification beyond that. One of the family members was quoted saying that he didn't know if the brakes failed or not.

But yeah, no seatbelts and hitting trees at a high rate of speed is going to do catastrophic amounts of damage.

 

[RG 448]

Tighter regulation on limousines please.

Can we please not politicize this? Limousines are a constitutional right and you could do just as much damage with a tandem bicycle. Thoughts and prayers with the victims and families.

 

[SiccDicc]

Can we please not politicize this? Limousines are a constitutional right and you could do just as much damage with a tandem bicycle. Thoughts and prayers with the victims and families.

I say anything longer than twenty feet should be classified as an assault vehicle.