What follows is a stark reminder to drive responsibly and watch out for other drivers on the road.

A white stretch limo taking four sisters, their spouses and friends to a 30th birthday party was involved in a horrific car crash that killed 20 people in upstate New York.

The limo, a converted 2001 Ford Excursion, blew through an intersection – setting off a chain of events that killed 20 people, including two sets of newlyweds, reports The Daily Beast.

According to authorities, the limo barreled [sic] down a hill, failed to stop at a T-junction, and rammed into an unoccupied SUV in the parking lot of the Apple Barrel Country Store and Cafe in Schoharie, about 40 miles from the state capital.

Officials are calling it the “worst transportation accident in the country in almost a decade”.

The irony is that the limo was rented so that its passengers wouldn’t have to drive after drinking. In this sense, it was a responsible decision that went horribly wrong.

Witnesses quoted by local TV station News 10 reported the vehicle went flying into a crowd of people outside the popular home and garden store. Two pedestrians were fatally injured and all 18 in the limo were killed.

“I saw a lot of people here at the Apple Barrel out in the parking lot. Then I heard screaming. Then I saw this large van, a very unusual looking vehicle out here in Schoharie in the bushes and really wrecked, hit a tree,” resident Bridey Finnagen told News 10. The store’s managing director, Jessica Kirby, estimated that the vehicle was traveling at “probably over 60 miles per hour” when she spoke with the New York Times.

The intersection where the crash happened is known for near-misses. Apparently, a number of tractor trailers have come barrelling down the hill in the past, rammed through the same parking lot, and ended up in the field, narrowly missing pedestrians and shoppers.

It might be time to do something about that intersection.

[source:dailybeast]