Sunday, September 27, 2015
“Suzie” has been a loyal name for Dave Tranovich’s motorcycles.
A rider since he was 13, Tranovich named each of his Harley Davidsons over the years Suzie, and they took him about 1,000,000 miles, he estimates.
Suzie No. 5 took him to the top corner of America in Maine, and to the Washington, D.C., Rolling Thunder rides.
This past May, on an ordinary ride near Geneva-on-the-Lake, Suzie No. 5’s life came to an end.
It’s a miracle her Canfield owner didn’t die there, too.
The accident did cost Dave his left leg. It nearly cost him his right leg were it not for great work by doctors at St. Elizabeth’s.
It cost him a lot in many ways, and today his friends and family are having a fundraising party for the retired General Electric worker.
From 1 to 4 p.m. today at the Argus Lodge on Shields Road in Canfield, there will be food, auction baskets, 50/50 drawings and other events to help raise funds for Dave’s medical costs.
The medical end of Dave’s life is summed up with 45 days in Cleveland trauma care; seven days at St. E’s; and weekly visits since as his bones heal, his skin gets grafted around his body, he gets fitted for a prosthetic leg and more.
He’s grateful for all the interest that’s been shown. It includes buddies helping him around town with his wheelchair. His wife, MJ, has her own physical limitations. The care extends to a youcaring.com page.
Talking to Dave about his love of riding countrysides or of the gruesome and disfiguring injuries and of the life change, he’s matter-of-fact and open about it all. He doesn’t miss a beat.
He finally does though when he talks about the driver who almost killed him.
He stumbles for words about her.
Dave and his frequent riding buddy, Will Tucker, drove to Conneaut Lake that May day for lunch, then looped up to Geneva and were heading south out of there on state Route 534.
“We were coming around the curve near the resort entrance when I saw her car coming toward me riding the center line,” said Dave. “So I got a little more right to give her room.”
A photo of the crash scene – it’s pretty grisly – shows a debris impact area well into Dave’s lane – maybe 2 feet left of center.
Suzie No. 5 came to rest about 20 yards away.
Shredded tire marks from the damaged car start in the left lane and re-enter the right lane and continue for about 75 or so yards until the car came to a stop.
“I’ve had drivers cross the center line before. But .... before I knew it, she was coming at me. Twenty feet away, I knew it was about to be head on.”
Dave never lost consciousness through it all, and describes those split-second moments in slow-motion detail.
“I swerved to my right thinking I could avoid flipping over the car or into the windshield. I never looked at her; all I was looking at was the bumper, trying to miss it.”
He didn’t.
He flew through the air, striking pavement on his right side. He’s still scarred from the road rash. The pain of two broken ribs prompted him to roll to his left side. It was then that the pain of his mangled left leg ignited.
Hearing Dave and his attitude of making do and moving on, you easily could see him forgiving a driver for inexplicably driving left of center if the reasons were right.
But not this driver.
A series of truths about her and the investigation have the family seething and feeling that justice lost here.
The first was that she claimed to have no cellphone on her when the accident happened. Dave believes the phone is in a field in the 100 yards between her car and the accident scene.
Why think that? The second truth is that her Facebook page has numerous selfie photos taken while she’s in her driver’s seat.
Dave’s family said some of the photos came down right after the accident, but not before they grabbed pictures of the pages. They sent them to me.
Stunningly, the driver’s Facebook page showed a selfie photo taken just last week with her in the driver’s seat.
The third truth is her criminal record, including driving infractions – drunken driving in 2010; driving under suspension in 2011; driving through a stop sign in 2012; and infractions in 2003 and 2008 that ended up as only seat-belt violations. She also racked up charges of trespass, records falsifications and domestic violence, among several charges.
So would you believe the cellphone really wasn’t on her?
Or is it where Dave believes it to be?
The Ashtabula County prosecutor said it was a grand jury decision of nine people who, based on the evidence, decided not to pursue felony assault charges.
I asked if the data from the cellphone was used as evidence. He said only that I would have to ask investigating police about that. In a case he called a tragedy, the cellphone was the only fact that he punted to another agency.
While I was unable to reach the police, Dave said they told him this: To search her phone data would require more probable cause.
Her punishment: $75 for driving left of center.
He said there is nothing to pursue civilly as she had minimal insurance.
Dave wants just a few things.
He wants to not see the driver anytime soon.
“I see how people forgive in those TV court presentations. I just don’t know if I could. There’s a lot of anger inside. At night, I close my eyes and see the car coming at me. Early on, I woke up in sweats.”
He said when he left the courthouse that last time, he went over to the trooper and warned him: She will hurt someone again.
That aside, he thinks more of the positives.
He wants to meet the stranger who stayed by him until the ambulance arrived. The man settled Dave down, put a cushion under his head and talked about anything to keep Dave at ease.
And he would like Suzie No. 6.
He laughs and says that Suzie No. 6 is not an immediate option with all the costs they have.
But at 64, he has a lot of life left as a husband and a father. He’s glad for that.
He’d like to enjoy it as he has all these years – a cycling buddy atop a Harley that he calls Suzie.
Todd Franko is editor of The Vindicator. He likes emails about stories and our newspaper. Email him at tfranko@vindy.com. He blogs, too, on Vindy.com. Tweet him, too, at @tfranko.