Very Sad Day - 7/28/2011 - Interstate 90 just West of Whitehall, Montana

July 28, 2011 - Very Sad, Sobering Day

Today started out as another beautiful day in a recent succession of glorious days, of enjoying the unparalleled diversity and beauty of these United States. We had just spent 13 fabulous days exploring the wonders of Yellowstone National Park. We left West Yellowstone, Montana, headed for Missoula, MT., working our way to Glacier National Park. I have described Wyoming as a state of rolling hills. Well, Montana is a state of rolling mountains. Montana is called the ’Big Sky’ state, and that is a good description of the portion we were driving through today. As we looked around we could not stop noticing that the landscape seemed to go on forever. There always seems to be rolling mountains off in the distance in all directions, creating the illusion that the wide open spaces just go on forever.

However, after driving for over three hours, we pulled onto Interstate 90 Westbound near Cardwell, Montana, and had travelled about 15 miles to the Homestake Pass area, a long slow hill approaching the Continental Divide again. The Interstate was being repaved on the other side, so the Eastbound traffic was reduced to one lane.  There was a cement median barrier between the two sides of the Interstate, and although there were road workers in the immediate eastbound area directing traffic and working on the repaving project, there were no obstructions to our travel on the Westbound side.

The speed limit on I-90 is mostly 75 MPH, but I hesitate to drive much faster than 65-67 MPH with the Motorcoach and Toad in tow, resulting in the majority of other vehicles passing us by.  I was having difficulty keeping our speed up to 45 MPH going up the approx 1 mile 6-7% grade hill at Homestake Pass. However there was an 18-wheeler about 1/8 of a mile ahead of us with a gross weight of about 80,000 lbs due to a full load of sunflower seeds, on his way to a delivery in Washington State, and he was having problems maintaining 25 MPH up the hill.  I could see that I was soon going to have to pass him.

I don’t recall how he got there, but there was a motorcycle rider between the truck and us, going faster than we were, that would have to pass the truck before I would.  I assume he had passed us because he was going faster than we were, but I didn’t particularly notice because everyone had been passing us on the way up the hill. There was no traffic in the passing lane behind me or up beyond the truck, so the passing lane was clear for both of us to pass the truck.

I saw that the cyclist was getting real close to the truck and would soon have to maneuver quickly to pass it, but he didn’t move toward the passing lane.  I saw him slam on his brakes, but he never attempted to turn, and he slammed right into the back of the truck, his cycle demolished, with parts flying everywhere like it had exploded.

I stopped in the middle of the road to block both lanes, and ran out to the cyclist. When I got to him, he was lying on the ground just in front of his cycle, not moving. There was gasoline leaking out of the gas tank cap, right at the feet of the cyclist. The gas was running slowly down the hill away from him, but if it caught on fire it would have exploded and engulfed the cycle and its unconscious driver. One person came close to the cyclist with a lit cigarette and another told her to get away with the cigarette because of the gasoline. I was able to lift the cycle up until the tires were back on the pavement and the cycle rested on the engine framework and the gas stopped leaking out. 

The truck driver had pulled over after feeling the cycle hit the truck and seeing the cycle and driver in his mirror, down in the middle of the road. He ran frantically back to the motorcycle, thinking that he had somehow run over the cyclist. I assured him that he had done nothing wrong and that I was following them both and saw the cyclist slam on his brake and smash into the back of the truck.

Within 20-30 seconds after the crash a student nurse had gotten out of a car travelling the other way on the Interstate, and was trying to get the cyclists helmet chin strap off in order to locate a pulse in his neck. Then a male EMT arrived on scene from a car and they both worked to locate a pulse. After a minute of trying, neither could find a pulse.  A female doctor came out of another car and all three began attending the cyclist. They coordinated turning the cyclist onto his back and the doctor and the nurse took turns doing chest compression CPR, but after 6-8 minutes, gave up and sadly the doctor put a towel over the cyclists face.

The cyclist, apparently in his sixties or early seventies, was from Ohio, travelling with a friend who had been on a cycle in front of the victim and had already passed the truck. The friend looked in his mirror and saw the truck pulled to the side, and could see his friend’s cycle down on the highway, and also came back to the scene.

Sylvia and I both prayed for the man, his family, his travelling companion and the truck driver.

We remained on the scene for over two hours, while the state troopers and the Montana EMTs did the work they had to perform due to the fatality. We gave both written and verbal accounts to the troopers of what we saw.

It is astounding to me that this man was driving along with his buddy on their Harleys doing what they loved, and within a few seconds of inattention he had lost his life.   Life is so dear, but too fragile.

At least the man died doing what he loved.

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Aug 5, 2011
Sylvia and I have had great difficulty not continually recalling the accident, and I have done some searching the net in an effort to find out more about the cyclist.  It turns out that he was an extremely wonderful, giving, religious man with a large family and many friends that loved him.  We are still very sad that the accident occurred, but it is some comfort to us that he knew God in a very personal way. God bless his family and friends and help them through this terrible time.

I have thought a lot about whether to include a url so that you could, if you wish, read about his life in a beautifully written obituary, and understand how full his life was and how giving he really was.  

Here is the url if you are interested.
http://northcanton.patch.com/articles/richard-a-weaver-76-who-founded-veterinary-wellness-center-of-north-canton-died-in-motorcycle-crash

If anyone reading this feels that I should not have included this url, please notify me via a comment, and I will remove it from the  blog. I just find his life story very interesting and uplifting.