Marine
02-01-2003, 5:55pm
Christopher Bergerson wasn't wearing a seat belt when his pickup went off a county road west of Mankato, Minn., and he died when he was thrown from the truck.
About 10 to 15 feet from his body, State Patrol Sgt. Dave Anderson found a traffic ticket on the ground. It turned out the Thief River Falls man was cited nine days earlier -- for driving without wearing his seat belt.
"It's a sad story," Dennis Smith, a spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety, said Thursday.
Smith said seat belts are the best protection motorists have in rollovers.
"We see it time and time again," he said. "If you roll a vehicle and you're not belted, you're ejected. And if you're ejected, nine times out of 10 you're dead."
There's no guarantee a seat belt would have saved Bergerson, Smith said. But authorities repeatedly see serious accidents where people who are belted suffer only minor injuries or none, Smith said.
Bergerson was driving on Blue Earth County Rd. 11 around 3:30 a.m. Wednesday when his truck left the road, vaulted about 150 feet over Hwy. 68, struck a field approach, flew another 40 feet and went over the fence of Minneopa State Park. It then rolled about 130 feet before hitting a tree and catching fire. Bergerson, 29, was pinned underneath.
State law mandates seat-belt use, though officers don't issue tickets unless they stop a driver for something else.
http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/3624675.html
About 10 to 15 feet from his body, State Patrol Sgt. Dave Anderson found a traffic ticket on the ground. It turned out the Thief River Falls man was cited nine days earlier -- for driving without wearing his seat belt.
"It's a sad story," Dennis Smith, a spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety, said Thursday.
Smith said seat belts are the best protection motorists have in rollovers.
"We see it time and time again," he said. "If you roll a vehicle and you're not belted, you're ejected. And if you're ejected, nine times out of 10 you're dead."
There's no guarantee a seat belt would have saved Bergerson, Smith said. But authorities repeatedly see serious accidents where people who are belted suffer only minor injuries or none, Smith said.
Bergerson was driving on Blue Earth County Rd. 11 around 3:30 a.m. Wednesday when his truck left the road, vaulted about 150 feet over Hwy. 68, struck a field approach, flew another 40 feet and went over the fence of Minneopa State Park. It then rolled about 130 feet before hitting a tree and catching fire. Bergerson, 29, was pinned underneath.
State law mandates seat-belt use, though officers don't issue tickets unless they stop a driver for something else.
http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/3624675.html