An expert in accident reconstruction said Friday that the vehicle involved in a fatal crash on Route 28 two years ago was traveling 75 to 82 mph in the moments before impact.
State police Cpl. Gregory Brandt testified for several hours during the third day of trial for Jared Schillinger, 30, of Cheswick who is charged with homicide by vehicle while DUI in the Feb. 16, 2013, death of Rikki Fleming, 18, of Etna.
Cpl. Brandt told Common Pleas Judge Thomas E. Flaherty, who is hearing the nonjury trial, that he used skid marks that began almost 47 feet before impact to calculate the defendant’s speed.
However, a defense expert testified late in the day that Mr. Schillinger’s vehicle was likely moving only about 56 mph, and that the skid marks used by state police investigators to estimate the speed the defendant was traveling were not created by his car.
Former Trooper David Fries said that the track width of the skid marks measured by the investigators did not match the width of Mr. Schillinger’s 2008 Volkswagen GTI, and were between 5 and 6 inches off.
“Truthfully, I don’t think they’re from the Volkswagen GTI,” Mr. Fries said. “If you don’t have the accurate marks or measurements, you can’t accurately calculate speed.”
Mr. Fries said that the crash impact should only have been considered moderate because of the amount of damage to both cars.
“It was wholly survivable if both vehicles had rolled out straight ahead,” he said.
But after impact, just after 11 p.m., Ms. Fleming lost control of her 2000 Hyundai, which traveled up the embankment separating the northbound and southbound lanes and then rolled over violently back to the roadway. She died at the scene.
Several witnesses testified earlier in the trial that the road was dry that night and that the defendant, who had a blood alcohol content of 0.23, was speeding and weaving in and out of traffic.
Mr. Schillinger said after the crash that Ms. Fleming’s vehicle didn’t have any tail lights on, and that he didn’t see her.
However, both the prosecution and defense agreed that at least the left tail light of Ms. Fleming’s vehicle was on at the time of impact.
Mr. Fries, who did crash reconstruction with the state police for 17 years before his retirement in 2011, said he believes it’s possible that Mr. Schillinger was traveling in the right lane and when he moved to switch to the left lane, he may not have seen that left rear tail light.
Assistant district attorney Evan Lowry on cross-examination asked, “The cause of the crash was the failure of the defendant to react in time?”
“Yes,” Mr. Fries answered.
“So the defendant is responsible for this crash?” Mr. Lowry continued.
“Yes.”
Paula Reed Ward: pward@post-gazette.com, 412-263-2620 or on Twitter: @PaulaReedWard.
First Published: May 9, 2015, 4:00 a.m.
