Halloween morning rollover crash

Gus Philpott
Woodstock Advocate
November 9, 2010

Last week I wrote about a rollover crash in rural McHenry County that never made it to the media. Early information to me indicated that alcohol had been a factor; later information to me indicated that alcohol was not a factor.

And then today i received a response to my FOIA request. Alcohol is not mentioned at all - either its presence or absence. The presumption then must be that alcohol was not a factor.

In fact, the crash report is vague enough that it's hard to determine much about the crash.

As soon as a primary report starts with "In summary,..." it begs for closer attention. The primary report should not be a summary of a crash. It should report the details of the crash investigation. Subsequent reports might begin with "In summary, ..."

The driver and sole occupant of the pick-up truck was Bryan Henning, 25, who is a corrections officer at the McHenry County Jail. Henning told Dep. Patrick Dillon that he had been northbound on Alden Road, approaching McGuire Road, when he swerved to avoid hitting an animal that ran across the road from his right.

The report fails to mention what type of animal or its size, or where the animal was when he first saw it. The report says Henning left the roadway, over-corrected, turned sideways on the road and over-turned in the northbound lane. Tire marks are indicated in the crash diagram in the southbound lane near the shoulder, although no path of the vehicle is drawn in the crash report. Only the final position of the over-turned truck is indicated on the report. The report doesn't state whether the vehicle ran off the right side or left side of the roadway or how far it traveled on the shoulder or in the ditch.

In one section it is reported that Woodstock Fire Rescue responded and that transport for medical care was refused. In another section it indicates that Harvard Rescue was enroute for evaluation. The type of crash is reported as "B Injury" type. Henning, who told Deputy Dillon that he was okay, was treated on the scene and released, according to Deputy Dillon's report. Glad you were wearing your seatbelt, Bryan!

Henning was given a ride to his Harvard residence by Deputy Dillon. Midas Touch got the tow. of Henning's vehicle, which was reported as totaled.

The issue for me about this crash is that it was not reported to the press. Because MCSD reports crashes involving civilian drivers to the press, it ought to report crashes by employees. Is a crash to avoid an animal unavoidable? Some are, such as when a deer leaps across the road in front of a vehicle and is hit (or almost hit) or lands on the car. This report does not mention a deer; it doesn't describe the type of animal at all.

Other crashes involving MCSD employees have supposedly been caused by animals that then vanished into thin air. Stories have been passed along to me that include laughter at the point where the "driver said a deer jumped in front of his vehicle."

In the early morning hours (or late afternoon or perhaps at any time) drivers in the country should be on the look-out for running animals that might cross the road. Maybe you slow down, even though the speed limit is 55. Just today, about noon, a deer ran across Greenwood Road in front of my motorcycle. Of course, this was during daylight hours, and the corn in the field had already been harvested, so the sight distance was good.

What CALEA standard has MCSD set for reporting single-vehicle, non-injury crashes to the press?