 It would thus need a federal certificate to operate, which the limo involved in the crash did not have.The Excursion had also failed inspection the previous month due to not only the absence of this certificate, but mechanical issues like a hydraulic antilock brake warning indicator light that stayed on, a dangling brake line that could have made contact with a tire, defective emergency exits and defective windshield wipers, making it illegal to operate on public roads in the state until those issues were corrected.In April 2019, a court filing by prosecutors indicated that DOT had held a hearing before an administrative law judge into Prestige's failures to maintain the vehicle on October 6, 2017—exactly a year before the crash.