David Patterson, 08-08-05
Collision kills Valley teen as he crosses
Willow-Fishhook on ATV
SECOND IN WEEK: Thick brush lines road at site of head-on crash.
By KYLE HOPKINS Anchorage Daily News
Published: August 9th, 2005 Last Modified: August 9th, 2005 at 02:12 AM
WILLOW -- A Willow teenager died Monday when the ATV he was driving collided
with a car on Willow-Fishhook Road. It was the second death of a Valley teen on
a four-wheeler in less than a week.
David Patterson, 15, died when a minivan collided with his four-wheeler about 4
p.m. Monday approximately a mile from his home, Alaska State Troopers said.
Paul Pierce, 54 and also of Willow, was headed home, eastbound in a Chevrolet
Lumina, when the four-wheeler appeared from behind the thick brush that lines
Willow-Fishhook, troopers said.
The Chevy struck the ATV in a near head-on collision, sending it and Patterson
into a ditch across the road, trooper David Bower said.
The boy died at the scene of the crash, troopers said.
He was wearing a helmet but lost it in the crash, Bower said.
Lined with tall brush and gravel, Willow-Fishhook is a narrow, faded road,
stitched with tar from repair work. As cars waited in both directions Monday
afternoon, drivers craning to see what had happened ahead, another four-wheeler
slowly passed on a trail about 20 feet from the road.
Neighbors said ATVs are a common sight in the area, though John Clark, who
lives about nine miles from the accident scene along Willow-Fishhook, said he
sees one on the road only about once a month. A man stopped to listen to Clark
and said that he knew Patterson and that the boy wasn't someone who drove his
ATV in the roadway.
The man declined to be interviewed or to give his name.
Talking to a pastor as troopers and firefighters walked the area, Pierce said
he wasn't ready to talk about the accident.
Bower said troopers don't know exactly how fast either vehicle was going before
the accident and were still investigating the crash Monday night.
The accident is the second Valley fatality involving a four-wheeler in a week.
On Wednesday, Cole Blakely, 15, was a passenger on a Honda four-wheeler that
collided with an AMC Eagle at Parks Highway and Pittman Road. Blakely died the
next day.
Daily News reporter Kyle Hopkins can be reached at khopkins@adn.com or in
Wasilla at 1-907-352-6710.
Obituaries
Published: August 13th, 2005
WILLOW
David Patterson, 15
Willow resident David W. Patterson, 15, died Aug. 8, 2005, from injuries
suffered in an ATV accident off Hatcher Pass Road in Willow.
A memorial service will be at 3 p.m. Sunday at North Star Bible Camp, 12.5
miles up Willow-Fishhook Road. Sean Hannah will officiate. David's ashes will
be scattered after the service.
David was born Dec. 21, 1989, in Anchorage, where he was raised until moving
with his family to Willow in 2002. He was a sophomore at Houston High School
where he was a member of the basketball and football teams. In the eighth
grade, he received awards for the Best Smile and Class Clown. He was also
awarded the Most Improved Basketball Player of the 2004-2005 season. He enjoyed
four-wheeling and motorcycle riding. He was a member of the Faith Bible Youth
Group.
His family wrote: "David always had a smile on his face and was welcome
wherever he went. In the short time he lived in Willow, he made hundreds of
friends and touched the lives of every person he met. He leaves a big hole in
the hearts and homes of many people. He will be missed by all."
His father, Bert Patterson, and grandparents, Robert and Nanna Patterson,
preceded him in death.
He is survived by his mother and stepfather, Linda and Thom Conway; sister,
brother-in-law and nephew, Christina Patterson, Brady Baker and Ashton Baker;
brother, Robert Patterson; grandparents, Warner "Brad" and Nancy Bradley;
brothers and sisters, Dakota and Madelyn Herrin and Thomas and Robyn Conway;
and many aunts, uncles and cousins in northern Alaska and around the Lower 48.
Donations may be made to the David Patterson Memorial Fund at any branch of Key
Bank or mailed to 201 N. Lucille Street, Wasilla 99654.
Arrangements are with Valley Funeral Home & Crematory.
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.