Paul A. Karas, acting commissioner of New York State’s Department of Transportation (DOT), resigned from his position. Karas, 67, was appointed acting DOT commissioner by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo in November 2017. In a letter to the governor’s office, Karas said he wanted to return to Illinois to be with his wife, who has “spent most of her time in Illinois pursuing her career and other interests.”
DOT has weathered scrutiny in recent months following an October crash in Schoharie, where 20 people were killed when a stretched Ford Excursion limousine careened through an intersection and crashed into an embankment, making it the nation’s deadliest transportation incident in nearly a decade.
The limousine’s braking system has been a focus of ongoing investigations by the State Police and the National Transportation Safety Board. DOT investigators had inspected the limousine multiple times in the months prior to the crash and ordered it out of service. State officials said they did not have the authority to remove the limo’s license plates when a trooper pulled over its driver last August. At the time, the limo and the driver were operating in violation of the law and it was subsequently ordered out of service for at least the second time.
State officials deny Karas’ resignation was related to the limo crash investigations.
Source: Times Union
