Cole Blakely, 08-04-05
Separate Wasilla-area accidents claim two lives, injure
five
20 DEADLY MINUTES: Teen on four-wheeler tried to cross road; packed car rolled.
By ZAZ HOLLANDER Anchorage Daily News
Published: August 5th, 2005 Last Modified: August 5th, 2005 at 04:59 AM
WASILLA -- Two people died and three were badly injured in two road accidents
that occurred in a 20-minute period on either side of Wasilla late Wednesday
night, according to Alaska State Troopers.
A Wasilla teenager died Thursday, the day after a car struck his four-wheeler
as he tried to cross the Parks Highway at Pittman Road west of the city,
troopers said. Troopers received the call at 11:37 p.m.
Cole Blakely, 15, was driving a 2003 Honda four-wheeler. Ashley Armknecht, 14,
was the passenger. They were hit by a 1981 AMC Eagle driven by 42-year-old
Legan Howard of Wasilla, troopers said. Howard suffered minor bruising.
Blakely apparently crossed the Parks against the light, troopers spokesman Greg
Wilkinson said. It was dark, and neither rider was wearing a helmet.
A pickup in front of the Eagle was making a left turn from the Parks onto
Pittman, Wilkinson said. The Eagle was continuing straight ahead.
"The kids thought they had a clear shot to cross the road, they didn't see the
Eagle behind him," he said. "It looks like the Eagle didn't do anything wrong."
Both teens ended up in pediatric intensive care Thursday at Providence Alaska
Medical Center, a hospital staffer said. But just after 1 p.m., Blakely, who
suffered massive head injuries and other trauma, was declared dead, Wilkinson
said. Armknecht was expected to survive her hip and leg injuries.
Blakely became the second Valley youth to die in an accident involving an
off-road vehicle driving on the highway in a little more than two months. A
17-year-old Wasilla boy riding a dirt bike died in late May when he was hit by
a pickup as he tried to cross against traffic at the busy intersection of the
Parks and Palmer-Wasilla highways.
Crossing a roadway on an off-road vehicle is legal, as long as the driver cuts
straight across the road rather than driving along the road before crossing or
crossing diagonally.
The report of a second accident reached troopers at 11:54 p.m., 17 minutes
after the four-wheeler call, troopers said.
Five people were riding in a 1987 Honda Acura near the University of Alaska
Fairbanks experimental farm when the car rolled on the winding section of
two-lane road. When rescuers and troopers arrived, all five were on the ground
outside the car about a half-mile from the Parks Highway.
All went to Valley Hospital, three with serious injuries. One later died,
Wilkinson said.
Few additional details about the second accident were available Thursday,
including the names of the people involved.
About 25 responders from the Central Mat-Su Fire Department helped carry the
five victims on backboards to four ambulances, fire chief Jack Krill Jr. said.
The rescue was complicated by the dark and the fact that the people in the car
lay scattered in a field about 150 yards off the road, Krill said.
The rollover marked the fourth wreck in that dangerous section of Trunk Road
this year, he said. "We need a guardrail there."
Daily News reporter Zaz Hollander can be reached at zhollander@adn.com or
1-907-352-6711.
Rash of off-road-vehicle accidents on public
arteries takes lives
By KYLE HOPKINS Anchorage Daily News
Published: August 17th, 2005
WASILLA -- Yaroslav Oleynik was a serious boy who worked on a farm and wanted
to build houses.
His mother, Anna Oleynik, stood in the family's unfinished garage Friday on
Fairview Loop and, speaking in Ukrainian, recalled the short life of her
16-year-old son. He died May 20 in a dirt bike accident at the intersection of
the Parks and Palmer-Wasilla highways.
The family, originally from the Ukraine, moved to Alaska from Sacramento,
Calif. Yaroslav was one of 12 siblings.
Oleynik's daughter Yelena Obukhovskiy, 19, translated. Oleynik looked down and
pinched the bridge of her nose, eyes watering as two of her youngest boys
played in the yard.
"I never thought it would happen in our family," Obukhovskiy said.
Police say Yaroslav was crossing the Parks Highway when his dirt bike was hit
by a Dodge Durango. Similar accidents this month carved holes in two other
Valley families when two 15-year-olds, one from Wasilla and one from Willow,
were killed in separate four-wheeler collisions within the span of a week.
So far this year, at least nine Alaskans have died in dirt bike and ATV
accidents. Authorities attribute many of the deaths, particularly in Bush
villages where four-wheelers can be more common than cars, to four-wheelers
rolling over or striking obstacles.
But all three fatal accidents in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough this season
involved off-road vehicles colliding with cars as they entered public roadways.
"I think this is the emerging problem," Wasilla Police Chief Don Savage said.
As the Valley population grows and old ATV trails disappear, he said, the
region still has the same "drive wherever you like" reputation among Anchorage
and local riders.
And as families like the Oleyniks torture themselves with questions of "what
if," other parents and the people in charge of regulating ATV and dirt bikes
are asking "what now?"
With nearly 6,000 ATV deaths on record between 1982 and 2003 in the United
States, the national Consumer Product Safety Commission formed a team in June
to investigate whether to change federal guidelines for how four-wheelers are
made or used.
The group will look at things such as mandatory training for riders and a
switch on youth-sized four-wheelers that parents could use to restrict the
machine's speed, commission spokesman Scott Wolfson said.
Elsewhere, North Carolina lawmakers this year debated a ban on children under 8
driving ATVs; Kentucky safety advocates called for helmet requirements for
four-wheel riders younger than 16.
Last year in the Mat-Su Borough, the Alaska Trauma Registry counted 44 people,
or about a third of the statewide total, hospitalized by ATV accidents,
coordinator Martha Moore said.
But police, including Wasilla traffic cop Jentry Crain, also say they hear
about countless near misses. In Alaska, riders are required to stop before
crossing roadways or driveways, which they can legally cross at a 90-degree
angle, Crain said.
Instead, he said, riders often use the dip right before many driveways as
launching pads for jumps, and some cars may never see them coming. Police and
troopers say that for their part, people driving cars and trucks can help avoid
collisions by staying alert and driving the speed limit.
Savage said the number of deaths this season doesn't necessarily surprise him.
"I think we've been very fortunate that we haven't had more," he said.
At the Oleyniks' home in Wasilla, Obukhovskiy described the night before her
brother died. Yaroslav had been up late, talking with his 14-year-old brother,
Sergey. Though Yaroslav often kept to himself, he and Sergey were close and
were deep in conversation about their future plans and what they'd one day do
for a living.
Other members of the family had been talking about moving back to California to
be closer to relatives, but Yaroslav was adamant that he would stay in Alaska
where he could hunt and fish, Obukhovskiy said, hopefully working on houses and
building frames.
The next morning, he rode his dirt bike to a car show at Wasilla High School.
His father, Vasiliy Oleynik, who repairs jewelry and watches in Anchorage, told
Yaroslav to be back by 2 p.m.
About 2:30 p.m., police responded to an accident at the intersection of the
Parks and Palmer-Wasilla highways. Yaroslav had been crossing the Parks when
his dirt bike and a Dodge Durango collided, police said.
Crain, the traffic officer, said no citations were issued; no way could the
driver of the Durango have anticipated the accident.
Vasiliy Oleynik was driving by the scene when he recognized his son's dirt bike
on the road. He stopped to find out what happened.
That's how he found out his son had been killed, Obukhovskiy said.
Ten weeks later, late on Aug. 3, Cole Blakely, 15, was a passenger on a
four-wheeler driven by a 14-year-old girl when the ATV tried to cross the Parks
Highway at Pittman Road, according to an Alaska State Troopers report.
An AMC Eagle collided with the four-wheeler, sending both teens to the
hospital. Blakely's aunt, Rebecca Ling, said Cole had just become an uncle for
the first time and had been talking about joining the Army after high school.
He died the day after the collision.
Within a week, David Patterson, also 15, was driving a four-wheeler near
Willow-Fishhook Road. Described by friends as outgoing and athletic, and the
class clown, Patterson was headed to football practice, according to Shawn
Hannah, program director at North Star Bible Camp of Willow, which the boy had
attended over the summer.
About 4 p.m., according to troopers, Patterson's four-wheeler emerged from
behind the thick brush along the road and was struck by a minivan driven by a
man who Hannah said teaches guitar lessons at the camp.
A trooper at the scene said Patterson appeared to have been wearing a helmet
but lost it in the crash. A memorial service was planned last Sunday at the
Bible camp.
Yaroslav Oleynik's family said that, months later, the loss of their son has
grown no easier to bear.
At their home Friday, Anna paged through a scrapbook of photos of her son while
her 10-year-old daughter, Natalia, stood by.
Anna pointed out different photos --Yaroslav on his dirt bike, looking serious.
And a younger Yaroslav, smiling and holding a giant starfish during a visit to
Santa Cruz, Calif. His eyes are the same shade of light blue, almost gray, as
his mother's and sisters'.
Toward the end of the scrapbook are photos from his funeral, pictures of Anna
and Vasiliy standing over Yaroslav's cherry wood coffin, their hands on his
head, their own heads tilted.
Anna Oleynik has a hard time seeing other boys on dirt bikes and four-wheelers
around town, she said. Sergey has caught himself asking where his brother is
before remembering what happened.
Vasiliy may be taking it the hardest.
"He kind of blames himself: 'Why (did) I tell him to come at 2?' " Obukhovskiy
said.
The family had been working on additions to their house so everyone could fit
comfortably. Young and strong, Yaroslav had been Vasiliy's helper as he worked
on expanding and remodeling their home. But since the accident, Obukhovskiy
said, her father no longer seems interested in finishing the building.
Contact reporter Kyle Hopkins at khopkins@adn.com or call 352-6710.
________________________________________
ATV education ...
ATV training courses are held several times a month between Palmer and Wasilla,
according to John Rogan, a local instructor for the Specialty Vehicle Institute
of America.
Most of Rogan's students take the four-hour course after buying a new ATV.
Dealers offer rebates for anyone who completes the training. Still, there are
only a few instructors in the state, Rogan said, and more are needed.
To learn more about four-wheeler safety, teaching courses or classes, call
1-800-887-2887 or visit www.atvsafety.org.