New laws approved in the state budget give New York clearer authority to pull limousines off the road when they fail inspections or are determined to be unsafe.
There was a significant push before the budget’s approval this week by the families of the 20 people who died in a limousine crash near Albany in October.
Long Island lawmakers cited a similar limo crash in 2015 that killed four. The women died when their limo attempted to make a U-turn and was struck by a pickup truck in Cutchogue.
It is now a felony crime for an operator to knowingly operate a faulty limo that causes the death of another person.
The measures fell short of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s proposal to outright ban stretch limos.