2 Years After Fatal North Fork Limo Crash, County Says Green Turning Arrow 'Not Warranted'

CUTCHOGUE, NY — Faded photographs and flowers have, for months, marked the spot on Route 48 and Depot Lane in Cutchogue where four young women died after their limo was T-boned in a horrific crash two years ago Tuesday.

The North Fork community has long been cloaked in mourning since the crash, with many residents echoing similar thoughts about how the memories of the worst tragedy they've ever witnessed, continue to haunt.

And, many say, while two years has passed, not enough has been done to prevent another tragedy from happening again. Although Suffolk County installed a flashing traffic signal as part of an already planned project after the crash, many say a green turning arrow is critical.

Brittney Schulman, 23, and Lauren Baruch, 24, both of Smithtown, Stephanie Belli, 23, of Kings Park, and Amy Grabina, 23, of Commack, all lost their lives.

Injured in the accident were Joelle M. Dimonte, 25, of Ellwood, Melissa Angela Crai, 23, of Scarsdale, Alicia Arundel, 24, of Setauket, and Olga Lipets, 24, of Brooklyn.

The limousine, driven by Pino and owned by Ultimate Class Limousine, Inc., was transporting the young women touring local wineries on July 18, 2015, Spota said; at approximately 5:11 p.m, the limo, while making a U-turn at the intersection of Route 48 and Depot Lane in Cutchogue, was broadsided by a pickup truck driven by Steven Romeo.

Spota said the DA's office plans to appeal the decision of a judge to throw out the indictment and dismiss charges against Pino.

Romeo pleaded guilty to driving while impaired in April.

After the tragic accident, many implored Suffolk County to install a traffic signal at the intersection of County Road 48 and Depot Lane.

However, so far, Suffolk County has not agreed.

When asked about the progress regarding the green turning signal on Tuesday, William Hillman, chief engineer at Suffolk County Department of Public Works, said, “After conducting a complete and thorough analysis of the intersection, County DPW has determined that a left turn signal is not warranted based upon best practices and engineering standards. While this accident was a tragedy, the department is constantly reviewing and implementing ways on how best to enhance the safety of our roads across Suffolk County."

Suffolk County Legis. Al Krupski, however, vowed Tuesday to continue to advocate for the green arrow and to work with county officials to see what else can be done.

"They are continuing to evaluate, and I will continue to urge them to keep evaluating this," he said, adding that there are many lights along County Road 48, with accidents also in other areas of town.

Krupski said the larger issue of distracted driving needs to be addressed across the board. "It's just a matter of people paying attention when they drive, to avoid any kind of tragedy like this. People need to slow down and pay attention."

Meanwhile, Southold Town Police Chief Martin Flatley says the green turning arrow "would help at this location," as would better sight distances for the turning lanes. "However, without a major overhaul of this roadway, that will probably not happen."

The bigger issue, Flatley said, is that even with a green turning arrow, limos will still continue to make legal U-turns at the location. The limos, he said, "are just too long and need to drive around the block to head west."

The lack of a left-hand turning arrow has long ignited an outcry from residents.

On Monday, Cutchogue resident Susan Tyler said the memories of that dark day remain: "I think about it every time I make that U-turn. Not that I wasn't cautious before, but I don't take even the slightest chance if there is a car in the turn lane coming from the other way. There has been a time or two I've waited an entire light."

On the day of the crash, Flatley said the grim scene was one many had long feared would happen.

Cutchogue resident Bill Shipman, who had long come before the town board warning of such a tragedy, has continued to raise his concerns about the safety of the area.

Flatley said while police presence at the location and around town in general has been amped up, "With the amount of traffic we are encountering this summer, we cannot direct all of our attention to just one intersection in town."

Change is coming, but slowly, Flatley said. While local limousine associations in Suffolk and Nassau Counties have educated their drivers, telling them "not to attempt to make U-turns along County Road 48, the majority of the problems we are having are from the companies that come from the five boroughs and out-of-state."

Others have said that the North Fork is simply staggering under the strain of a boon in agritainment and wineries, emerging as a destination that draws huge crowds to the area on roads simply not designed for the influx.

Flatley said it's up to the Southold town board "to decide as to how much of this industry we can tolerate."

Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell spoke on the issues this week: "The volume of cars we are seeing in Southold is simply too much for our infrastructure to handle. Combine that with vehicles such as limousine and buses and we have a current situation that is destroying our quality of life."

While global solutions should be considered Russell said the town needs the cooperative efforts of New York State and Suffolk County toward developing ways to pay for infrastructure investments.

Russell commended New York State Senator Ken LaValle, Krupski and New York State Assemblyman Anthony Palumbo for their efforts thus far. "We will continue to work with them to develop town-wide solutions," he said.

The supervisor, due to litigation, was unable to speak specifically about the limo crash.

Grand jury recommends green turning arrow

"You see these eight beautiful babies? The way I'm leaving them with you, I want them back."

Those were the heartbreaking words Felicia Baruch uttered to limo driver Carlos Pino before the horrific limo crash in July, 2015 in Cutchogue that took the life of her daughter Lauren and three other young women, and left four others gravely injured.

The words were revealed as part of a 156-page New York Supreme Court Suffolk County Special Grand Jury Report, with recommendations discussed at a press conference convened in December by Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota.

Findings indicate that the grand jury would like to see U-turns by modified or stretch limos banned in Suffolk County and New York State, enhanced driver certification requirements, and a new traffic light at County Road 48 with a green turning arrow with a red phase for both eastbound and westbound traffic.

The "lack of regulations" regarding stretch limos was cited, as was the "inadequate traffic light" at County Road 48 and Depot Lane, Spota said.

"There's nothing but a fine line between a stretch limousine and a hearse"

Spota said something needs to be done so that an similar accident will never happen again. "There's nothing but a fine line between a stretch limousine and a hearse," he said.

Flatley said in the months since the accident, with limos still making U turns and buses and limos carrying crowds out to local wineries, concerns still exist.

"The problem is not going away," Flatley said.

Special grand jury report

After a year-long, comprehensive investigation including the testimony of four dozen witnesses and the review of thousands of documents, the grand jury produced the report, detailing the circumstances that led to the fatalities, a release from Spota's office said.

The grand jury’s findings say "there is a complete lack of regulation of stretch limousine construction, and the existence — to this day — of an inadequate traffic light at the historically dangerous intersection of County Road 48 and Depot Lane in Cutchogue," the release said.

Photos of the limousine wreckage and a photo of a new stretch limousine’s "woefully inadequate 'anti-intrusion bar' installed to 'protect passengers'" were featured.

An intrusion bar aimed to protect side impacts to passengers "did absolutely no good" and offered no protection for the young women, Spota said. The rod was "woefully inadequate and unacceptable," the report determined, with the force of impact knocking it right off the side of the limo.

The DA said when a company aims to create a limo, it buys a vehicle such as a Lincoln town car, pulls it apart, and adds a middle section of up to 10 feet. But there are weight restrictions of 7,500 lbs., he said, so oftentimes features such as the front seat, the spare tire and the jack are left out so the weight will fall under guidelines.

"The more passengers you can fit in, the more the end buyer can charge to rent the limo. Money, that's what this is all about," Spota said. "There's constant battle to minimize or modify the vehicle' s weight."

In addition, he said, every vehicle is supposed to be crash tested. "No such test was ever performed on the limo these girls perished in," he said.

Both the limo builder and the purchaser said they believed it was the other's responsibility to ensure such testing was done.

In addition, Spota said, such large limos are simply incapable of making a U-turn on a road such as County Road 48. The limo should ideally be able to turn into the left lane but cannot even turn into the right since the vehicle is so large.

"Eight young women and their families thought they were being careful" in hiring a limo, Spota said. But instead, "They didn't know they were putting their trust in a vehicle that was untested, unregulated and potentially deadly."

Traffic light at Route 48

Spota also said the traffic light at Route 48, at the time, was merely flashing yellow lights.

The Suffolk County Department of Public Works had decided to change the light in 2014 but no action was taken until two months after the fatal limo crash, Spota said.

The report indicates that a new light with a green turning arrow is critical, he said.

Despite the fact that the town board and residents had pleaded for a new light for years, the county has said "traffic was insufficient to warrant a change," Spota said.

As it stands, he said, conditions are now more dangerous than they were before the new light. So far, Spota said, the county has "declined" to install the green turning arrow, despite evidence that says it would be a "minor adjustment," he said.

Southold's general liability insurance carrier dropped the town this year — citing "too much risk" after the deadly Cutchogue limo crash and the growing number of wineries in town, according to Russell. New insurance went into effect on Jan. 1; there was no lapse in coverage.

Russell said the town's general liability insurance carrier for 2016 was Houston Casualty Co. and its premium for 2016 was $321,000. But now that premium has risen an additional $142,000 per year, due to the need to find a new carrier.

Houston Causality Co. had been the town's carrier for a few years and is the company that will be responsible for the cost of claims that are the result of the accident, the supervisor said.

"The company believes that the possibility of future events exposed it to unnecessary risk," Russell said.

Jon E. Shearin, the town's broker at the Roy H. Reeve Agency, said the town's former carrier refused to renew one part of their package in late October. "The specific reasoning as that the current policy term structure and pricing do not support the loss history."

He added, "One of the major losses that caused the problem was the Route 48 accident. It was a large player in the reasoning behind the decision. Although it is a county road, it does intersect with a town road."

Shearin said the accident was "horrific. A very, very sad situation. It's a very political issue and there is a possibility the town's insurer is going to be paying substantial loss. There is a possibility they won't, but insurers always think the worst."

The bottom line, Shearin said, is "The Town of Southold has a vibrant winery community. While it's a good thing from an economic standpoint, insurers look at what the chance is, of it happening again. People will be riding around in limos — the same type of incident could happen again. Pedestrians are out on the road in front of wineries. That particular accident was horrendous. All the carriers ask what the potential is, of it happening again. And it could."

Over the past year, at least two crashes have taken place at the same spot. Three were injured in an August, 2016 crash at Depot Lane and Route 48; another three car crash occurred at the spot in June of this year.

Patch photos by Lisa Finn.