NEW YORK(CBSNewYork) — It has been 9 weeks since the devastating limo crash in Long Island’s wine country claimed four lives. Four others were seriously injured and are now out of the hospital. The deadly case was back in court before a Southold judge, accused DWI pickup truck driver Steven Romeo was conspicuous by his absence. “Case was adjourned until October 16, that is the new date,” Romeo’s attorney Daniel O’Brien said. Romeo has claimed he was not speeding, distracted, or drunk and did not cause the crash when his red pickup broadsided the limousine that u-turned in front of him. Four innocent lives were lost, and four others were critically injured. Prosecutors suggested Romeo could face more serious charges. His blood alcohol reading was found to be .06 just under the .08 legal threshold of DWI, it was taken an hour and forty minutes after the crash. Romeo was not at his Marine services shop on Friday, the scene of a fatal forklift incident last year, when Romeo accidentally dropped a bucket on his employee. Colin Volinsky said he quit just days before the boatyard death. “Thank god I did leave when I did, that would have been me, he had only one other working for him besides me,” he said. At least four of the eight families have filed intent to sue Romeo, and the limo driver while accusing the town and county of “negligence, carelessness, and recklessness” for failing to keep the road safe through wine country, and allowing stretch limousines to make u-turns at the Route 48 intersection that only had a blinking light. As CBS2’s Jennifer McLogan reported, the National Transportation Safety Board will now probe limo crashes. “We all saw and agonized over the horrible tragedy of four beautiful women in the prime of their lives, in the accident involving a stretch limo, and what we learned amazingly is stretch limos have no safety standards,” Senator Charles Schumer said. Residents in wine country urged mandatory side impact air bags, rollover bars, multiple exits, and limits on the weight and number of people each modified stretch limousine can carry. The limo driver, 58-year-old Carlos Pino of Bethpage has not been criminally charged.
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Victims’ Families Intend To Sue Pickup Driver Accused Of DWI In Deadly LI Crash
