Promoter Crushed To Death At Monster Truck Show

Madison Truck The veteran told investigators he never saw the man walk into his path. WARNING: GRAPHIC VIDEO

by Associated Press

Published: Mon, January 26, 2009 - 11:16 am CST Last Updated: Mon, January 26, 2009 - 12:23 pm CST

WARNING: GRAPHIC VIDEO

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The veteran driver whose huge vehicle killed a promoter at a monster truck show told investigators he never saw the man walk into his path, authorities said.

It was the nation's second fatal accident at a monster truck show in a little over a week.

The promoter, George Eisenhart Jr., suffered severe internal injuries when he was hit by the huge truck Saturday at the Motor Sports Monster Truck & Thrill Show at the Dane County Coliseum, the coroner said. The show was immediately halted.

The big blue truck with oversize tires was driven by its owner, Daniel Patrick, who authorities said has been a driver on the circuit for more than 20 years.

Amateur video broadcast on television showed a man walking in front of the truck.

"Our preliminary investigation shows neither Eisenhart nor the truck driver saw each other before the collision," Coroner John Stanley said at a news conference Sunday.

Patrick spoke to investigators and authorities said he would not be charged. Sheriff Dave Mahoney said it appeared all safety precautions had been taken and called the death "a very tragic accident."

"He knew he had hit something but obviously, he didn't know it was a person. ... He is taking this very hard," Mahoney said.

A call to Patrick's home in Circleville, Ohio, on Monday was answered by a woman who said her husband had no comment.

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration also was looking into the death. Kim Stille, director of OSHA's Madison office, said Monday that the investigation was continuing but no obvious safety issues had turned up. She agreed it appeared to be an accident.

Eisenhart, 41, of Chardon, Ohio, was owner and president of Ohio-based Image Productions, which has been staging monster truck shows across the nation for more than 15 years.

Eisenhart had spoken proudly of the show's safety record the day before the accident, telling WKOW in Madison: "This is our 16th year, and I wish I had a big piece of wood to knock on right now, but we have not had an incident besides a gal slipping in the aisle at another location."

On Jan. 16, a 6-year-old boy was killed in a Monster Jam event in Tacoma, Wash. Sebastian Hizey was struck on the head by a chunk of metal that flew off a truck doing doughnuts. One man in the audience was seriously injured.

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mobileguy48 Says:

Wed, Jan 28, 2009 at 11:15 am

@KxVicious

The same thing has happened to me also. I only stop for jaywalkers on USA campus if I must do so to avoid hitting them. If it comes to that, I lean on my horn. However, I do try to stop for people who are standing there waiting at the edge of a crosswalk. I get a little upset at them, too, for not going ahead and walking, but I guess they are just being cautious.

KxVicious Says:

Wed, Jan 28, 2009 at 10:00 am

Yeah, I can’t tell you how many jay-walkers I’ve almost hit on campus at South. They’re bee-bopping along to their iPods and decide they suddenly need to cross the road—FIFTY FEET AWAY FROM THE CROSS WALK—you know, where you’re NOT expecting them to be! I once had this guy stand in the middle of the road screaming at me for almost hitting him, when I decided to get out of the car and point out that he must be VISITING and not a student if he wasn’t smart enough to know that it was illegal to cross outside of a cross walk and that I’d be more than happy to call the cops and have him ticketed. He shut up and continued on his way.

Tide Fan Says:

Tue, Jan 27, 2009 at 4:57 pm

No different than accidents that take place on the flight decks of aircraft carriers…People getting sucked into jet intakes, walking into helicopter blades..etc…people become complacent to their surroundings and that is what happened here.

Sweetassuga04 Says:

Tue, Jan 27, 2009 at 4:36 pm

mobileguy…that is too real of a scenario for me. I worked in Orange Beach right on Beach Blvd….and people jog up and down the Blvd all day everyday. One morning about 7am, this lady was jogging with her ipod in and jogged right out in front of a 70 year old lady… she died…but it also almost killed the old lady knowing she had just hit and killed this girl. Its getting ridiculous…but Im going to bank on him having ear protectors on. Still, couldnt he feel the vibration of that huge monster coming at him??? Def. weird yet still so so sad.

mobileguy48 Says:

Tue, Jan 27, 2009 at 7:08 am

Maybe he was listening to an iPod.

Tide Fan Says:

Mon, Jan 26, 2009 at 2:58 pm

Its obvious he was looking to his left ( approx. 45 deg. angle ) as the other truck that struck him was approaching. His attention was focused on the other truck. If you watch closely, you can see him start to turn his head to the right when he realizes something is wrong just before impact. Im sure he had hearing protection in…SOP while working in that environment. He had probably become too comfortable…tragic accident.

rosepetal Says:

Mon, Jan 26, 2009 at 12:53 pm

the poor man could have been preoccupied with something else and not paying attention. it was horrible just horrible.

DEW26M Says:

Mon, Jan 26, 2009 at 12:40 pm

I can’t believe that a man walked in front of a chest-pounding, 1200 horsepower, Monster Truck, and never seen it coming. These things are awesome, and the simple crank of the engine makes windows pop and crack like they are going to break. It almost looked like a suicide mission. There’s no way at all, he didn’t know that truck was rolling his way.

KxVicious Says:

Mon, Jan 26, 2009 at 12:37 pm

Gosh! I can’t believe they show the video!