Family of woman killed in drunk driving crash while riding in MTM van reacts to company’s contract renewal

The family of a woman who was killed late last year while riding in a Medical Transportation Management, Inc. van say they can’t understand why the state would renew its contract with the company.

The family of Lina Russo issued a statement to ABC 6 News Thursday, saying in part that they’re “devastated to hear of this contract awarded to MTM.”

They also questioned why the state would “entrust the safety of its citizens to MTM,” despite the company’s “long track record of poor services that consistently endangered so many Rhode Islanders.”

Russo died in December. The driver, Dauda Elegushi, admitted he had been drinking before getting behind the wheel. That van belonged to a subcontractor of MTM.

MTM was fined $600,000 for the incident.