On February 20, 2008 my step-daughter's father was killed in a head-on snowmobile accident near Mount Horeb, WI. He was a great guy, everyone that ever met him loved him, including me. I won't rehash old news, his sister Heidi has an excellent blog and is much better with words and emotions that I am.
The only thing that I want to add is a refutiation of some of the information that has been circulating in the news, and with friends of Mike's. Alchohol or drugs was not a factor in the accident. The coroner has finished his report, and the police are wrapping up their investigation. Neither rider was drunk or stoned, so despite the original news media reports, alcohol was NOT a factor in this accident.
Despite the good intentions of Mike's friends, NOBODY saw the accident happen. Other riders were in the area, and one of Mike's friends came upon the scene very soon after the accident, but nobody actually saw the accident happen.
Speed does not appear to be a factor either. Original stories that we heard was that the other rider was driving in excess of 70-80 MPH. This is wrong. The police reconstruction team estimates his speed between 40-43 MPH, well under the night snowmobile speed limit set by the Wisconsin DNR. Mike was either completely stopped, or very close to stopped when the accident happened.
Mike died within "seconds" according the coroner report, due to severe head and chest injuries. Both riders were wearing helmets.
We are still awaiting the final police report. At this time, it does not appear the district attorney is preparing a case against the other rider, which indicates even further that this was an accident. A horrible, possibly avoidable, accident, but an accident nonetheless.
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