[This was posted by Ronald J Friedel to the labmembers@fuji.physics.indiana.edu mailing list. -Ed.]
Details of the fatal SAGBRAW accident on Tuesday, August 8, 1995.
by Ron Friedel
Monday, August 14, 1995
SAGBRAW is a bike tour that goes across the state of Wisconsin each summer in August. It was first run in 1978 by the Milwaukee Sentinel newspaper. At one time, there were three separate tours, each coming across the state, and meeting at the end of the week in Milwaukee. In 1995, there was only one tour, going from Eau Claire to Pewaukee, near Milwaukee. Wheel and Sprocket, a chain of 5 Milwaukee area bike shops, ran the trip this summer. An extension of SAGBRAW, called Super SAGBRAW, ran from Superior to Eau Claire on the Saturday and Sunday before the main ride. Super SAGBRAW was about 200 miles long and then the normal SAGBRAW was about 380 miles and ran from Monday, August 7, to Saturday, August 12. This year, the normal route went from Eau Claire to Neillsville, then to Wisconsin Rapids, to Wisconsin Dells for two nights, to Columbus for the last night, before going to Pewaukee. There were about 475 people on this year's tour.
I went on the first SAAGBRAW in 1978 and have ridden and been associated with it for 13 of its' 18 years. My wife and I have been in charge of 7 of the tours and I put together the route the last two years. The route is constrained to going between different cities, with the cities being picked for having available accommodations. The cities also need to be a reasonable distance apart, generally 40 to 80 miles.
On Monday, August 7, we went from Eau Claire to Neillsville, and the biking distance was about 70 miles. Neillsville, a small city and the county seat of Clark County, is in west-central Wisconsin. On Tuesday, August 8, the tour went to Wisconsin Rapids, a distance of about 55 miles.
The only paved roads into Neillsville are US and State Highways. There are no County Trunk Highways, which we would normally prefer to ride on, going into Neillsville. Going east from Neillsville, we had two choices. One was to go 6 miles east on US 10 and then turn south on County K. The other choice was to leave town going south on State Highways 73/95 and then turning east on Highway 73. The State of Wisconsin Dept. of Transportation publishes a state bicycle map. The map shows those roads and highways on which bicycles should not be ridden because of traffic volume and sight line limitations, etc. US 10 is not a recommended route on this map with a red line east of Neillsville. State Highway 73/95 is shown on this map (1992) as a "suitable road section(s) with paved shoulders."
Shortly after 7:00 AM a number of cyclists were riding south out of Neillsville on Highway 73/95. The highway looks like it was rebuilt within the last 5 years. It has very good sight lines, with wide, sweeping corners and moderate hills. There is a paved shoulder, about 3 feet wide. The cyclists were riding on the paved shoulder. About 1 1/2 miles south of Neillsville, the highway sweeps down a hill and gradually turns left as it crosses a creek. The bridge, on Cunningham Creek, has a wider shoulder, maybe 6 to 8 feet wide. The sides of the bridge are smooth concrete walls about 4 feet high.
At this same time, a truck caravan was coming up from behind and overtaking the cyclists, also going south. The caravan consisted of three trucks pulling three trailers. The second and third truck-trailers were each carrying one half of a modular home. The modular homes were wide loads, perhaps 12 feet wide. The first truck was pulling a trailer with a load of timbers and other stuff needed to move a modular home from a trailer to a house foundation. This trailer was home-built and looked like a heavy-duty boat trailer. It was connected to the truck with a ball hitch. The trailer load was reported to have been about 2 1/2 tons.
As the first truck, with the trailer carrying the timbers, approached the bridge, and started to turn left, the driver noticed that the trailer had become separated from the truck. On the bridge, on the right shoulder, also going south, were Larry Schmalz, his wife Linda, and a friend, Margaret Eichers. Larry was hit first by the runaway trailer, probably as the trailer hit the bridge abutment. The trailer, or perhaps part of its' load, hit Linda and she apparently slid along the road or bridge abutment. The back of her helmet was worn off. The trailer, having bounced off the bridge wall, and now heading off the left side of the road, running over Margaret. The trailer and its' load landed in the ditch on the left side of the highway. Linda's and Margaret's bikes were found under the trailer, in the ditch.
An EMT came on to the accident site from the opposite direction about a minute after the accident. He stopped, ran to Larry, and found that he was dead. Some other cyclists were attempting CPR. He saw that Linda was talking and was being taken care of. He checked Margaret and found that she was still breathing. He ran back to his truck to get more medical supplies. On the way back, he found that Margaret had stopped breathing. He then started CPR on Margaret.
The ambulance(s) got to the accident site about 10 minutes later. I was on my bike and saw the attendants loading Margaret and Linda into the ambulance(s). Larry's body was covered with a sheet. Margaret probably died on the way to the hospital. Linda had a deep laceration/lung puncture in her left side back, with probable broken ribs. She also had a broken pelvis. She had lots of road rash, but her helmet protected her head.
State law says that all trailers being pulled by trucks must have safety chains to keep the trailer connected to the truck in case of hitch failure. Also, the larger trailers, carrying heavier loads, must have safety brakes that are locked on if the trailer becomes separated from the pulling truck. The safety brakes are turned on by a chain that connects to the truck as it pulls away from the trailer. Neither the safety chains, nor the brake chain, were connected to the truck, as required by law. One of our cyclists, who was video taping the tour, video taped the accident scene and the offending truck, with the chains still stowed.
At this time the local Clark County District Attorney is still investigating the accident and the driver has not been charged with any offense.
Further info on the SAGBRAW fatal accident:
Some people have asked me to post any further information I have on the accident of August 8, 1995 and follow the case through the civil and criminal courts. This is the first bit of info, paraphrased from the Thursday morning, August 18th edition of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
The company owning the truck and trailer that was involved in the accident was given 5 traffic tickets by the Clark County Sheriff's Department. The driver of the truck was also given a ticket. The tickets are as follows:
Steenberg Homes:
1. Were using a trailer with a cracked or defective frame.
Fined $150.60
2. Were not using safety chains on the trailer.
Fined $114.00
3. Did not have provisions to activate a safety brake.
Fined $150.60
4. Had no brakes or they were defective, on the trailer.
Fined $89.60
5. The trailer was not registered.
Fined $114.00
The 20 year old driver:
1. Cited for failing to hook up a safety chain.
Fined $114.00
A Captain in the Sheriff's Department also said that the unused safety chain was improperly installed. Safety chains are supposed to be permanently attached to the trailer and then connected to the truck when they are hitched together. Here, the chain was installed on the towing truck. Also, it was a single length of chain with a hook at each end. Apparently, the law says that there must be two separate lengths of chain, in case one fails.
These citations are separate from any potential criminal charges. The DA in Clark County, Darwin Zwieg, said on Wednesday, August 16th, that he was not sure if his office would issue any charges nor could he say when this might happen.
Some people said they would like to send a card to the surviving bicyclist. Her name and hospital address follows:
Linda Schmalz
c/o St Michael Hospital
2400 W Villard Av
Milwaukee, WI 53209