Letters

Psychologists long ago identified the five stages of grief — one of them being anger — so it was not surprising that the relatives of the four victims of the tragic 2021 car crash in Quogue filed lawsuits against anyone and everyone immediately after the accident [“Uber Seeks Arbitration Two Years After Fatal Quogue Collision,” 27east.com, July 26]. (Like in all of these situations, our hearts break for the bereaved parents, and all of us offer our deepest condolences.)

But scroll forward two years and the lawsuits are now coming to a head, and the Village of Quogue is still, surprisingly, among the defendants.

The facts are pretty straightforward: An irresponsible driver racing along Montauk Highway at speeds between 86 and 106 mph struck an Uber vehicle traveling at the legal speed limit and killed three passengers and the Uber driver.

In the ensuing two years, it has been established that the Quogue Village Police, in general, follow a lawful set of police protocols, and data show that the vast majority of drivers do not speed on this stretch of the highway. Indeed, it is the indefatigable vigilance of the Quogue police force, recognized around the area for decades, which causes most people to slow down when traveling through the village.

The police officer in question did what every well-trained law enforcement officer would do: pursue someone seen to be breaking the law. (As expected, no charges were brought against the pursuing officer.)

Most law-abiding-but-sometimes-infracting citizens slow down when they see a flashing red light in their rear-view mirror. In this case, the perpetrator did not slow down — he sped up. So, for the plaintiff to suggest that Quogue has a bunch of Harry (“Dirty Harry”) Callahans routinely creating contrived and dangerous high-speed car chases is absurd and belies the current facts and the historical record.

But, more fundamentally, there is a principle at stake in this litigation: Police officers need to pursue criminals, whoever they are, wherever they are, and whenever they raise their ugly heads. To ignore that principle would risk the safety and quiet enjoyment of all Quogue citizens — indeed, all citizens in Southampton Town — and would lead to the evolution of a Hobbesian state of societal disarray that has come to be associated with larger urban areas such as New York City, Detroit or Baltimore.

So, with that principle in mind, and emboldened by the facts, I would urge our elected officials to stay the course in this litigation and avoid the inevitable tendencies of those being advised by attorneys with Pilgrim-like attributes (early settlers).

Embedded in this horrible tragedy is an important principle that is worth a legal fight to the end.

Mark J. Schulte

Quogue