Racerchaser
12-01-2006, 07:02 PM
By Walter Elliott
TAVARES, Fla. -- The Florida Highway Patrol has ruled that the Oct. 14 charity school bus race crash at nearby New Smyrna Speedway that killed lake County Sheriff Christopher Daniels was accidential and will therefore not pursue criminal charges.
FHP Cpl. David A. Templeton, in a 17-page report he released Nov. 29, noted that 18 mechanical and circumstantial conditions led to Daniels being thrown out and run over by his own bus and that of Seminole County Sheriff Don Eslinger. While the report concluded that Daniels was not wearing
his seat belt during the crash, inexperience in driving a school bus and poor visibility were among the other contributing factors.
Daniels was celebrating his 47th birthday by driving in the fifth annual NSS "Battle of the Badges" for the first time. The Oct. 14 race, featuring seven law enforcement officers from among five Central Florida counties, was to benefit the Florida Sheriffs Youth Ranches.
Volusia County Sheriff Ben Johnson said, to the Daytona Beach News-Journal that the event he had sponsored never had a serious injury before Daniels' accident. The fatality ended the race three laps short and prompted then-leader Johnson to end the series.
The right front corner of Eslinger's bus contacted Daniels' left rear corner between NSS's first two turns on lap 12 at about 9:20 p.m. Oct. 14. The collision started a slow counter-clockwise spin, pitching the unbuckled Daniels through the open right side door of his 1986 bus. The accident lasted eight seconds.
"By all accounts it was a minor spinout, not unlike many others that occur during this type of event," wrote Templeton. "If the bus door had ben closed, Sheriff Daniels likely wouldn't have made it out of the bus. Sheriff Daniels' lack of experience in driving a bus, let alone in a competitive environment, also weigh into this."
Templeton's report confirmed a Nov. 2 preliminary finding that Daniels' seat belts were working properly. The report included testimony from Daniels' widow Michelle and NSS race mechanic Richard Pettis urging the sheriff to wear the belt. One witness saw Daniels tug on something like a belt before the start.
FHP investigators said there was equal evidence that Daniels unbuckled his belt to see better.
He and several drivers left their right side doors open and lowered windows. There were no side mirrors on the buses and all windows were spray painted over except for an area of the left front windshield scraped away with a razor blade.
NSS officials said that all seven buses' seat belts and brakes were operating properly. Pettis, who is also a Daniels family friend, aid that the buses followed numerous safety rules but were not equipped with usual safety devices found in most other racing categories.
The District 7 Medical Examiner's Office autopsy was unable to find Daniels' contact lenses, leaving unanswered whether he was wearing them or were dislodged. The report stated that the sheriff's drivers license required corrective lenses. Daniels was also wearing a full face helmet which came off
during the crash.
TAVARES, Fla. -- The Florida Highway Patrol has ruled that the Oct. 14 charity school bus race crash at nearby New Smyrna Speedway that killed lake County Sheriff Christopher Daniels was accidential and will therefore not pursue criminal charges.
FHP Cpl. David A. Templeton, in a 17-page report he released Nov. 29, noted that 18 mechanical and circumstantial conditions led to Daniels being thrown out and run over by his own bus and that of Seminole County Sheriff Don Eslinger. While the report concluded that Daniels was not wearing
his seat belt during the crash, inexperience in driving a school bus and poor visibility were among the other contributing factors.
Daniels was celebrating his 47th birthday by driving in the fifth annual NSS "Battle of the Badges" for the first time. The Oct. 14 race, featuring seven law enforcement officers from among five Central Florida counties, was to benefit the Florida Sheriffs Youth Ranches.
Volusia County Sheriff Ben Johnson said, to the Daytona Beach News-Journal that the event he had sponsored never had a serious injury before Daniels' accident. The fatality ended the race three laps short and prompted then-leader Johnson to end the series.
The right front corner of Eslinger's bus contacted Daniels' left rear corner between NSS's first two turns on lap 12 at about 9:20 p.m. Oct. 14. The collision started a slow counter-clockwise spin, pitching the unbuckled Daniels through the open right side door of his 1986 bus. The accident lasted eight seconds.
"By all accounts it was a minor spinout, not unlike many others that occur during this type of event," wrote Templeton. "If the bus door had ben closed, Sheriff Daniels likely wouldn't have made it out of the bus. Sheriff Daniels' lack of experience in driving a bus, let alone in a competitive environment, also weigh into this."
Templeton's report confirmed a Nov. 2 preliminary finding that Daniels' seat belts were working properly. The report included testimony from Daniels' widow Michelle and NSS race mechanic Richard Pettis urging the sheriff to wear the belt. One witness saw Daniels tug on something like a belt before the start.
FHP investigators said there was equal evidence that Daniels unbuckled his belt to see better.
He and several drivers left their right side doors open and lowered windows. There were no side mirrors on the buses and all windows were spray painted over except for an area of the left front windshield scraped away with a razor blade.
NSS officials said that all seven buses' seat belts and brakes were operating properly. Pettis, who is also a Daniels family friend, aid that the buses followed numerous safety rules but were not equipped with usual safety devices found in most other racing categories.
The District 7 Medical Examiner's Office autopsy was unable to find Daniels' contact lenses, leaving unanswered whether he was wearing them or were dislodged. The report stated that the sheriff's drivers license required corrective lenses. Daniels was also wearing a full face helmet which came off
during the crash.