When Grizzly 399 — the most famous bear in the world — was struck and killed by a car in the Snake River Canyon in western Wyoming on Tuesday night, some people erupted with outrage and are calling for authorities to throw the book at the driver.
There’s just one problem with that: the local sheriff’s office says the driver didn’t break any laws.
Law enforcement officials say assuming the driver did something wrong isn’t the right conclusion as the driver appears to have been going the speed limit when he hit the bear.
Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office Patrol Lt. John Stetzenbach told Cowboy State Daily that the evidence collected at the crash site shows that the driver was traveling at or very close to the 55 mph speed limit on Highway 89 when the bruin was hit. The driver also was not distracted.
“It truly was an accident,” he said.
How It Works
Stetzenbach said law enforcement makes this determination at wildlife crash scenes based on a few factors.
First, they look for skid or yaw marks to see if a driver made an effort to slow down before hitting an animal. Extensive marks usually means someone was speeding.
Stetzenbach said there were none at the scene.
They also check to see how much damage was caused to the vehicle by the animal, the size of the vehicle and factor in the animal’s weight when doing so. He used the example of an antelope, which weighs much less than a grizzly bear, pushing a truck engine into its cab.
“There would be a high possibility that the truck was moving at more than 55 mph,” he said about that scenario.
Although there is no extra penalty for hitting wildlife with a vehicle, Stetzenbach said they will readily issue a ticket against someone found likely to have been speeding, particularly if it results in the killing of wildlife.
“We absolutely will ticket if someone is going too fast or too fast for the conditions,” he said.
The 399 Investigation
Stetzenbach said the level of front-end damage caused to the Subaru that hit 399 makes it clear that the driver was driving at the speed limit.
He said the vehicle was towed away on the night of the crash and suffered more than $1,000 worth of damage, which triggers the mandatory filing of a state crash report.
There are no streetlights of any kind at milepost 126 where the bear was hit and Stetzenbach said the conditions here were very dark at around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday when the bear was hit.
“It’s pretty dark, it’s not lit,” he said.
He also said by the time the driver got out of the car to inspect 399, she was already dead.
Stetzenbach said even when his deputies receive calls about bears or wildlife on the roads, they can’t always immediately respond to these calls if deputies are tied up with other matters.
Lessons Learned
Although he reiterated that the driver did nothing wrong when he hit 399, the deputy said the bear’s death should serve as an example of why people should be mindful of wildlife when driving in Wyoming at night.
Stetzenbach himself said he usually drives around 15 mph below the speed limit in a particular area well-stocked with antelope at night to avoid them and other critters.
“Fifty-five is a pretty safe speed, but it’s always safer during the day then nighttime driving,” he said.
Although the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office has said the driver was a Wyoming man operating a Subaru, no other information has been revealed about him at this time other than he was traveling west toward Star Valley on the night of the crash.
“It wouldn’t fare very well for the driver if his ID was known,” Stetzenbach said.
Stetzenbach said it’s common for vehicles to hit wildlife in Lincoln County; however, bear crashes are much more rare, the 399 incident being only the second he could remember during his 27 years with the sheriff’s office.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has possession of Grizzly 399's body and reports it hasn't determined a disposition for it yet.
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
