NY Senator demands investigation into state's role in Schoharie limo crash

SCHOHARIE, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- Sen. Jim Tedisco is calling on the New York State Inspector General to investigate whether the state mishandled the fatal Schoharie limousine crash investigation and even made efforts to cover it up.

Tedisco sent a letter to the Inspector General that said not only does the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles share responsibility for the crash, according to the final report by the National Transportation Safety Board, but also that it interfered with that agency's data collection.

It was determined the October 2018 crash was caused by catastrophic brake failure due to a lack of regular maintenance done on the vehicle. Twenty people died in the crash.

Tediso said the DMV failed twice to remove the vehicle from operation.

"The fact that they didn't follow the guidelines of the regulations, basically," he said. "So there's a perception right now, and I think that there should be an investigation that there was a dereliction of duty. And we have to find out what those failures were."

Tedisco said it took several FOIL requests but the state Department of Transportation and DMV did release long awaited documents connected to the crash.

The senator's letter can be read in-full below: