NEWS

Citations issued in Amish crash

Karen Madden
USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

WISCONSIN RAPIDS - The suspected driver of a pickup that crashed into a horse-drawn wagon Nov. 20 killing a father and son was cited Tuesday with first-offense drunken driving and will face no criminal charges in the crash.

Nelson

The Wood County Sheriff's Department has released the crash report done by Trooper Thomas Parrott, a State Patrol accident reconstruction expert. The report finds that the lack of lighting on the back of the horse-drawn wagon was a significant factor in the crash. State statutes require two red lights that can be seen from a distance of 500 feet on the back of an animal-drawn vehicle and the wagon had none.

Seth M. Nelson is suspected of driving a pickup truck that hit the back of a wagon driven by Christian Kempf, 31, of Vesper at about 6 p.m. Nov. 20 on Wood County HH in Hansen. Christian Kempf died the next day and Kempf's 10-year-old son, Melvin, who was a passenger on the wagon, died Dec. 1. The Kempf wagon had an aged reflective sign on the back when the truck hit it, according to court documents.

The speed of the pickup prior to the driver hitting the brake was about 63 to 68 mph, according to the report. The speed limit on the stretch of highway where the crash occurred is 55 mph. Nelson had a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.13 percent, according to the report.

Parrott set up a photograph to recreate the visibility of the slow-moving vehicle triangle that was on the back of the wagon at the time of the crash. The triangle was faded and appeared to have little or no reflective properties, according to the report. Parrott mounted the wagon's triangle on the right side of a tripod and a new triangle on the left side. He photographed the two triangles using conditions as close to those at the time of the crash as he could make them.

In the photos, the new triangle is bright and clearly visible and the wagon's faded triangle is much more difficult to see.

Parrott determined the driver of the pickup braked and swerved to try to avoid hitting the wagon, according to the report. Using a computer program, Parrott determined the reactions of the pickup's driver met normal expectations in the circumstances.

Nelson is scheduled to make his initial appearance May 5. Someone convicted of a first-offense drunken driving does not face a jail sentence but can face a fine of $150 to $300, court costs, a six- to nine-month driver's license revocation and an alcohol assessment. It is an ordinance violation, not a criminal offense.

Wood County District Attorney Lambert announced Thursday he would not file criminal charges against Nelson because the accident reconstruction shows the crash would have occurred regardless of Nelson's condition at the time.

You can contact reporter Karen Madden at 715-424-7308, karen.madden@gannettwisconsin.com or follow her on Twitter@KMadden715 .

A State Patrol accident reconstruction expert placed a new slow-moving vehicle sign next to the sign that was on the back of an Amish wagon when it was hit by a pickup. The sign to the right of the tripod is what the pickup driver would have seen one second prior to the crash.