5 fatal crashes in month prompt action

Officials hope tally signs will slow drivers down

EAST HAMPTON — The accident Monday that killed a 51-year-old motorcyclist was the fifth fatal accident in town in 34 days.

“That’s way too many,” Town Manager Michael Maniscalco told the Town Council when he raised the issue Tuesday evening during its regular meeting. Maniscalco said he has asked Director of Public Works Dean Michelson to “put together some signs” that will record the number of traffic fatalities that have occurred in town.

It is part of an effort, the manager said, to make people more alert, and, hopefully, more careful.

The grim tally began July 31, when three people, including a 23-year-old man, were killed when his Jeep collided with a Buick carrying two women on a portion of Route 16 near Flatbrook Road.

One of the vehicles caught on fire in what a witness described as a “horrific” crash.

On Aug. 16, a 27-year-old East Hampton motorcyclist was killed when he plowed into the rear of a Portland police cruiser in Cobalt.

And on Monday, another motorcyclist was killed when he struck a car pulling out in front of him at the intersection of Laurel Ridge and East Main Street.

Police Chief Dennis Woessner told the council his department is doing more targeted enforcement in an effort to reduce speeding and other traffic violations. Woessner also called upon residents take a common-sense approach to driving: “Obey the laws, don’t speed, and don’t drink and drive.”

Wednesday morning, Woessner expanded on those comments. He said he is frustrated because the deaths “were not the result of accidents. They were crashes. If a tree falls on you, that’s an accident.”

A crash is a collision, and, as such, “They are preventable — if people would just abide by the laws.”

Without being more specific

because police are still completing the individual accident reports, Woessner said the various crashes have involved “speed, alcohol and/or drug use or some combination of all of the above.”

Referencing one driver who was recently stopped by police on Route 16 going 77 miles per hour, Woessner asked, “How do we get the message out to slow down?”

Excessive speeding is not occurring “at one particular time frame,” such as during the morning commute. “It’s kind of all over.”

And, he acknowledged, “We’re not unique. It’s happening in every community.”

While any death is disturbing, Woessner said he was particularly upset at the death of the 23-year-old in the fiery collision. That victim had barely begun his life, the chief said.

Woessner is especially concerned now that schools have reopened. The weather is still good, and he worries about young people being out with their friends and

speeding.

He has reason for that concern.

Woessner came to East Hampton from Glastonbury Tuesday evening.

“We had a three-fatality crash” in which three young men in a BMW lost control of their car and crashed into another vehicle, killing that driver as well.

The string of fatal crashes has placed added stress on East Hampton police officers, beyond just the strain of dealing with often brutal deaths, he said.

In response to a question from the council Tuesday, Woessner said he had to call in additional officers for every one of the fatal crashes.

They were needed to do background investigations into what the victims were doing in the last 24 to 48 hours, to close off roads so state police could map the accident scene, and the always difficult process of notifying the next of kin about a victim’s death, he explained.

Wednesday afternoon, Maniscalco said he has asked Michaelson to make up signs “with the number that can be changed,” and which will read, “This year to date, East Hampton has experienced five fatal accidents. Please drive safely.’”

He intends to put up signs announcing the tally of fatal crashes up at the entrances to town at both Cobalt and Marlborough, with another on Route 16.

His intention is “to try and get people to pay attention to what they are doing.”

“That was a big part of why I brought it top to the council last night,” he said, adding he delivered the same message to the East Hampton/Portland Division of the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce meeting Wednesday morning.

Maniscalco said he will bring that same message “to every function I can. We need to pay attention to this.”