From today’s MKE Journal-Sentinel (by the way, the defense atty is a former DA):
A detailed crash analysis puts the blame for Allen Belonger’s death on bad driving by a 16-year-old boy, who turned a pickup into the path of the cyclist on a rural Iowa County road more than a year ago.
Authorities in Iowa County, however, have taken no action - no ticket for failing to yield the right of way and no criminal charges for killing Belonger.
The members of Waukesha’s Spring City Spinners Bicycle Club want to know why.
In a letter mailed to Iowa County District Attorney Larry Nelson, the leaders of the group, Belonger’s widow and the executive director of the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin demand at least an answer, if not an official action that acknowledges the driver did something wrong.
“It is our opinion that there must be some official condemnation of his actions,” the group says. "Otherwise, the public may very well and possibly quite reasonably conclude that your county does not take the safety and rights of bicyclists seriously.
“That type of attitude can only lead to a greater disrespect of cyclists’ rights and therefore to more tragedy, not only in Iowa County, but throughout the state.”
The law enforcement response is particularly significant in an area that has gained a national reputation as a mecca for road cycling. Nearly 1,000 riders were expected to participate Sunday in a Centurion Cycling ride, and 1,250 have signed up for the Dairyland Dare Challenge, starting in Dodgeville, on Saturday.
Each year, more than a half-dozen cycling events take place on the narrow country roads that serve the farm communities in the driftless area west of Madison.
Belonger, a 62-year-old from Waukesha, was participating in one of them, the Insane Terrain Challenge, when he was killed on July 11, 2009.
Trooper’s crash analysis
According to the collision analysis prepared by State Trooper Thomas Parrott and released to the Journal Sentinel:
Belonger was with two other club members rolling downhill on S. Clayhill Road in the Town of Ridgeway at 30 to 35 mph. He was riding defensively.
The cyclists would have been visible to the driver from nearly 900 feet away and for roughly 10 seconds before the impact.
The sun was not a factor; already high enough in the sky that it did not impair either the cyclist’s or the driver’s ability to see the other.
“The truck was going slow (about 18 mph) when it abruptly turned in front of Belonger.”
Based on the estimated speeds, the cyclist had roughly 0.86 seconds to react to the truck’s turn into his path, and he skidded for roughly 23 feet, approximately 0.5 seconds.
“He was presented with a nearly impossible hazard to avoid. The manner in which Belonger was operating his bicycle was not a factor in this crash.”
“The driver failed to look before he turned left. The driver failed to yield to the oncoming vehicle. This was a significant factor in this crash.”
Attorney’s assertions
Parrott’s findings directly contradict assertions made earlier by attorney Paul Bucher, who represented the driver. The boy, now 17, lives in New Berlin but spent the summer of 2009 with friends in the Town of Ridgeway at the location where the crash occurred.
Bucher said Belonger largely was responsible for the crash, and that an accident reconstruction done for his firm estimated the cyclist’s speed at 60 mph before impact. He also asserted that Belonger was riding with his head down, and the driver of the pickup was looking into the sun.
Contacted late last week, Bucher refused to comment on the findings in the state’s report, which conflicted with his account of the crash. Asked for a copy of the accident reconstruction report he cited in May, he responded, “We’re not going to be releasing anything.”
No charges or tickets
After reviewing Parrott’s report, the leaders of the bicycle club decided to press Iowa County authorities for their lack of action.
In a letter dated Dec. 1, Iowa County District Attorney Larry Nelson informed Belonger’s widow that no charges would be issued. It makes no mention of a citation, and does not include an explanation for his decision.
On Friday, he said the responsibility for issuing a citation rested with the Sheriff’s Department. He was uncertain why no ticket was issued.
“Sometimes accidents with tragic results are just that, tragic accidents,” Nelson said.
Iowa County Sheriff Steve Michek similarly was at a loss to explain the basis of the decision.
“I’m not sure if it’s an error in miscommunication,” he said.
Initially, the deputy who investigated the crash cited the driver for causing great bodily harm by intoxicated use of a motor vehicle.
The ticket was based on the boy’s statement to authorities that he had been drinking beer with his father at a picnic the night before he hit Belonger. According to sheriff’s reports, the boy put his consumption at six beers between 9:30 p.m. and 1 a.m.
The crash occurred at 8:41 a.m. and a blood test taken later showed no alcohol in the boy’s system. Based on that finding, the ticket for intoxicated use was dropped and the reports were sent to Nelson for his review.
After determining no criminal charges were warranted, Nelson provided no follow-up direction to the Sheriff’s Department.
Not a vendetta, group says
The drinking the night before the crash adds to the anger of Laura Fisher, president of the Spring City Spinners. While not mentioned in the reconstruction report, the scenario puts a 16-year-old boy in a pickup with at best seven hours of sleep and possibly hung-over.
“I think you need to stop having sympathy for the violator and have some sympathy for the victim and his family and friends,” she said.
Fisher said the group remains deeply saddened by the death of a friend, a leader and well-respected cyclist.
Their effort to pursue the case is not meant as a vendetta against the driver, she said.
“I feel sorry for anybody who has made a mistake like that and has to walk around with that guilt,” she said. “The whole point is, he broke a traffic law and caused the death of another human being.”
The penalty for failing to yield the right of way and killing someone, as specified in state statutes, is a fine of $1,000 and a license suspension.
Netke case update
In contrast to the Belonger case, Waukesha County District Attorney Brad Schimel on Friday recommended that the Town of Summit police issue a traffic citation against the driver who hit and killed a cyclist on Highway 18 on Father’s Day.
The prosecutor reviewed the circumstances of the crash that took Brett Netke’s life and found no basis to issue a criminal charge against the driver, Samuel Weirick, 20, of Dousman. He should be ticketed for failing to follow the state’s 3-foot law, requiring motorists to give at least that much clearance when passing a bicyclist, Schimel said.
He sent his recommendation to the Summit police officials, who will make the decision whether to issue the ticket, which carries a fine and a one-year license suspension because the violation resulted in a death.