The Consequences

Politician charged in
motorcyclist’s death

American Motorcyclist, August 2003, Page 20

South Dakota Congressman Bill Janklow, 64, had a reputation as a speeder. He even admitted it during speeches.

Motorcyclist Randolph Scott, 55, had a reputation as friendly and outgoing. He was known and liked by nearly everyone in the small community of Hardwick, Minnesota, that he called home.

On Saturday, August 16, according to police reports, Janklow’s penchant for speeding, combined with running a stop sign, cost Scott his life.

The congressman, who is also a former four-term South Dakota governor and the state’s most prominent politician, was headed south on Moody County Road 13 near his home in Brandon, South Dakota, that afternoon. He was driving a friend’s 1995 Cadillac and, according to police reports, going well over the 55-mph limit.

Janklow apparently knew the road quite well, since it leads from his home to his mother’s house. But as he approached a stop sign at the intersection with County Road 14, he didn’t stop. In fact, police reports indicate that he entered the intersection going over 70 mph.

Scott was out for a backroads ride with a friend. They were headed west on County Road 14, with the other rider leading the way and Scott following on his 1997 Harley-Davidson. According to reports, they were motoring along at about the speed limit on the road, which does not have a stop sign at its intersection with County Road 13.

The friend told police that he rolled through the intersection without even noticing the Cadillac bearing down from his right. A couple of seconds later, when Scott reached the intersection, the car suddenly flashed in front of him.

The resulting collision was massive, according to reports. Scott’s motorcycle slammed into the car’s left rear door. He was found, dead, in a field alongside the road.

The car continued traveling for 300 feet, hitting a sign and coming to a stop in another farm field. The congressman apparently suffered injuries to his hand and head.

Scott, a farmer, volunteer firefighter, Vietnam veteran and former American Legion post commander, was buried with full military honors. Even though the town of Hardwick has a population of only 220, some 375 people were on hand for the service, and approximately 1,000 attended a visitation the night before.

Janklow, who has not spoken about the crash publicly, issued a statement expressing “as much anguish for this gentleman and his family and friends as is humanly possible.”

Reports indicated, though, that the behavior that apparently led to this deadly crash was quite common for the congressman. In one four-year period in the early ’90s, he racked up a dozen speeding tickets. Then he was re-elected governor, and the tickets stopped.

Just last summer, though, reporters traveling with him noted that he was driving at speeds of up to 99 mph through heavy smoke while driving down a mountain road after inspecting efforts to fight a forest fire.

Just weeks before the fatal crash, the Nebraska Highway Patrol stopped Janklow for speeding and let him off with a warning.

Then there were the accidents, a whole string of them, totaling seven over 11 years. Police indicated that many were Janklow’s fault. And although none of those had the tragic consequences of the August 16 crash, one other incident nearly did.

According to reports, Janklow was almost involved in an eerily similar crash at the very same intersection just nine months earlier.

Jennifer Walters of Trent, South Dakota, told local media that she and her family were headed to a holiday dinner in December when a white Cadillac ran the same stop sign and barely missed ramming their pickup truck.

According to the paper, Walters reported the incident to police and was told later that officers had stopped the car, and identified the driver as Janklow.

Authorities have refused to discuss the incident.

Over the years, Janklow often bragged and joked about his driving record. He laughed off the encounter with the Nebraska police this summer, and in his 1999 State of the State address, then-governor Janklow talked about the consequences of his speeding purely in monetary terms.

“Bill Janklow speeds when he drives—shouldn’t, but he does,” he said. “When he gets the ticket, he pays it, but if someone told me I was going to jail for two days for speeding, my driving habits would change. I can pay the ticket, but I don’t want to go to jail.”

Now, that’s exactly where the consequences of his driving could land him. Janklow has been charged with felony second-degree manslaughter, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in jail and a $10,000 fine. He also has been charged with reckless driving, which carries a maximum sentence of one year in jail and a $1,000 fine, plus speeding and failure to stop at a stop sign.

If he is found guilty of the felony manslaughter charge, Janklow could also lose his authority to vote in the U.S. House under terms of the House Ethics Rules. That would mean South Dakota would lose its only vote in the House.

Janklow faced a preliminary hearing on the charges in late September. We’ll be following this case to its conclusion.

Motorcycle Crashes Common

The crash that took the life of motorcyclist Randolph Scott has attracted nationwide attention because the driver of the car that allegedly caused the rider’s death is a U.S. congressman.

But such crashes, in which motorcyclists are killed or injured by car drivers, are entirely too common across the country. And while the causes of these accidents are often the same, the outcome in court varies widely. Here are a few recent examples:

• Essex, Illinois, Mayor Dave Dvorak has been charged with reckless homicide and aggravated driving under the influence after allegedly turning his pickup truck into the path of an approaching motorcycle on July 23, killing the motorcyclist and seriously injuring a passenger on the bike. If convicted, he could face up to seven years in prison.
• Southhaven, Mississippi, Parks Director Mike Mullins allegedly turned a pickup truck into the path of a motorcycle on July 11, killing the rider. A grand jury will determine whether Mullins should be indicted.
• Motorcyclist Harinder Biring, 36, of Indianapolis, was killed in an apparent road rage incident involving a taxi cab driver. Charges are pending.
• Motorcyclist John Lopes was killed when car driver Sidney Eisenman allegedly made an improper turn across two lanes of traffic and hit Lopes in Randolph, Massachusetts. He has been charged with motor vehicle homicide and failure to yield to oncoming traffic.
• Motorcyclist Gary Kunich was killed when Nicole Moore, driving a pickup truck, plowed into him in the fog near Oakland, California, as he sat stopped in traffic. Police reports indicated Moore was traveling at 60 mph or more in the heavy fog. Moore was sentenced to 30 days in jail and 200 hours of community service.
• Motorcyclist Larry Pittman, 34, of Skiatook, Oklahoma, was killed when Deana Barnes plowed her SUV into the back of his motorcycle. Barnes pleaded guilty to negligent homicide and was sentenced to 30 months of probation. She was ordered to perform unspecified “acts of kindness and generosity.”

These are the most extreme examples of accidents in which the driver of a car or other vehicle violates the right of way of a motorcyclist. More than 20 years ago, the Hurt Report, the most comprehensive study ever conducted into the causes of motorcycle accidents, found that this was the single greatest hazard riders face on the road.

The study found that nearly 75 percent of motorcycle accidents involve another vehicle, and that in almost two-thirds of those crashes, the cause could be traced to the other vehicle violating the motorcyclist’s right of way.

For nearly three years, the AMA has been involved in a campaign called Motorcyclists Matter that focuses attention on the dangers faced by motorcyclists and other vulnerable road users, including bicyclists and pedestrians.