Limo Safety Provisions Advance in Must-Pass Transportation Bill

Press Release

Congressman Paul D. Tonko (NY-20) announced today that several of the national limousine safety provisions he has been pushing have been advanced by the Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee as part of a major surface transportation bill that now moves to the House floor. The measures--all of which are led or co-led by fellow Congressman Antonio Delgado--include higher limousine safety standards and incentives for states to get unsafe limousines like the one involved in the deadly Schoharie limousine crash on October 6, 2018 that took 20 lives off the road.

"More than two years ago, I stood with my New York colleagues to introduce bold, bipartisan legislation that would raise the bar on limousine safety so we can prevent tragedies like the deadly crash in Schoharie, NY, where 20 souls lost their lives in an unsafe vehicle that should never have been on the road," Congressman Tonko said. "Their family members and those of other victims have been the inspiration and a powerful driving force backing our work to write and push for these commonsense reforms. As millions of vaccinated Americans start getting back to planning weddings, sending kids to school dances and traveling for other celebratory events, any further delay in advancing these lifesaving measures will leave countless of our friends and loved ones at risk of another preventable tragedy. In memory of the lives that have been taken too soon and for their loved ones who have turned unimaginable pain into a resounding call for reform, Congress must pass this legislation and the President must sign it into law without further delay."

The limo provisions advanced as part of the surface transportation bill include:

Immobilization grant program: Establishes a new incentive grant to encourage states to fully participate in the Performance and Registration Information Systems Management (PRISM) program. Full participation requires the impoundment or immobilization of passenger-carrying commercial motor vehicles found to have significant safety violations.
Commercial Motor Vehicle Driver Safety: Requires drivers of limousines to hold a Commercial driver's license (CDL) for passenger carriers.
State inspection of passenger-carrying commercial motor vehicles: Requires the Secretary to review current state practices regarding annual inspection of passenger carrying commercial motor vehicles to determine which inspection models are most used and evaluate their impact on commercial vehicle safety.
In 2019, Rep. Tonko introduced a comprehensive plan for national limousine safety reform, one year to the day after the tragic limousine crash in Schoharie, New York. Tonko has worked closely with families of these victims and as well as another group of families who lost loved ones in another limousine tragedy on Long Island. They introduced their resulting package of federal limousine safety reforms in Tonko's hometown of Amsterdam, New York with Congressman Delgado (NY-19) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and with the support of Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (NY-21).

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