It’s been almost a year, March 23 to be exact, since Gary Sledzik got drunk and went for a drive. Three motorists called state police to warn them about the careening pickup roaring down the turnpike. State police failed to try to stop Sledzik during his 42-mile wild ride, failed even to ask local police to try.

Then, at the Exit 6A tollbooth, Sledzik stopped. By slamming into Barbara Maxfield’s car, killing her, killing her 13-year-old daughter, seriously injuring her 3-year-old son.

Now, seven members of the Legislature’s Legal and Veteran’s Affairs Committee want to award the boy, Allan Leech, $275,000 as compensation for his loss, injury and suffering. They want to help the family heal. Six members want to deny the payment. They want to put the family through the ordeal of a trial.

A simple case of right and wrong, only it’s not so simple. The original legislative resolve sponsored by Sen. Mary Small did not ask for $275,000. It asked that Barbara Maxfield’s family be allowed to sue the state — without the state protected by its statutory immunity — or that the family be compensated in the amount of $500,000. That figure itself was a practical-minded compromise with Maxfield’s anticipated lifetime earnings of $800,000.

So the majority, instead of championing the family’s cause, is denying it the ability to seek recourse in court, where a damage award would likely be $275,000 plus a zero or two. Even worse, it’s nickel-and-diming the settlement, trying to get off the hook cheap. And the family’s legal recourse is limited to judgments, capped at $10,000 each, against the few individual troopers and dispatchers found to be at fault.

Gov. King is opposed to the settlement because, he says, there is no clear liability on the part of the state. Technically, he’s correct. Liability must be proved in court, and if the committee majority gets its way, that will never happen.

The state is, however, culpable. A primary function of the state police is traffic patrol and drunken driving is just about the most serious offense going. Three motorists did their civic duty and called the state police; their calls were ignored. A modest attempt to intercept Sledzik, a simple phone call to the local cops and Allan Leech might still have a mother and sister.

Rick Leech, Allan’s father, is willing to accept the settlement. Is the state, after shirking its duty, now taking advantage of his desire to end this nightmare? How was the sum of $275,000, marked down from $500,000, reached? Was each life discounted by $112,500, or were mother and daughter pro-rated?

When this resolve is taken up by the full Legislature, probably next week, lawmakers can do the right thing and allow this shattered family either to sue the state or to accept the full $500,000. Their choice. The police state failed to do its duty by failing to respond to those three calls. The Legislature must not add to the state’s disgrace by discounting this tragedy.