WASHINGTON, Aug. 21 (UPI) -- Rep. Bill Janklow, sole congressman from South Dakota, was driving a Cadillac Saturday afternoon at 75 miles an hour in a 55-mile-per-hour zone when he went through a stop sign and hit a motorcyclist.
Janklow was 63, the motorcyclist, Randy E. Scott, was 55. Had they know each other in life they might have well become friends. From what you read, they were both what Americans think of as they salt of the earth.
Scott was a Vietnam veteran, a farmer, a volunteer fireman, on the way home from a birthday party for his ex-father-in-law.
Scott, who was named Randolph Scott by his father after the Western actor of the same name, was thrown from his motorcycle by the force of the collision and pronounced dead at the scene. He was not wearing a helmet.
When he was buried in tiny Minnesota town of Hardwick (population 222) the minister, the Rev. Mark Mumme of the Zion Episcopal Church, told the congregation, "We will be judged in the end by someone who stands beside us, not in front of us."
Janklow was eight years older, a Marine Corps veteran from the 1950s, four-term governor of South Dakota, a former attorney general and was elected to Congress in 2002. There are men and women in South Dakota that think he is the most popular political figure the state has ever had.
Janklow, according to press reports, suffered an injured hand and bleeding in the brain. He did not seek medical help at the scene, but this developed in later medical examinations, according to news reports. Blood tests showed neither man had consumed alcohol before the accident.
Janklow's son, Russell, a lawyer in Sioux Falls, S.D., told local reporters that his father expects to be charged in the accident. He said his father likely did not see the stop sign. Janklow was traveling with an aide, according to police reports, but the aide was not named.
Janklow's office did not respond to a series of questions Thursday, while his son's office told United Press International Russell would not comment until the issue of charges was resolved. Janklow has not made any public comments to date.
Janklow told police, according to news reports, that he swerved to avoid an oncoming car. News reports found that he had said that over the years in several previous accidents.
Having written all this does not really tell you about this accident. Janklow was known throughout South Dakota as a man who liked to drive fast. Press reports claim he got 12 speeding tickets in 11 counties between 1990 and 1994 and paid more than $1,000 in fines. He got several speeding tickets during his first term as governor. He was warned in 1982 that he was in danger of losing his license after being stopped for going 80 miles per hour in a 55-mile-per-hour zone. He had received a similar warning in 1979, according to several news accounts.
On several hair-raising rides, he was with reporters.
The New York Times quoted from Janklow's 1999 State of the State address:
"Bill Janklow speeds when he drives -- shouldn't but he does," Janklow said. "When he gets the ticket, he pays for it, but if someone told me I was going to jail for two days for speeding, my driving habits would change."
He made the remark in favor of mandatory jail time for drug offenders.
Janklow never went to jail nor apparently never lost his license.
At 63, Janklow was a heavy man with a full jowl and thick neck. According to press reports, there was medicine in his car for sleep apnea, a condition that causes the victim to stop breathing during the night. Sleep apnea also results in the victims falling to sleep abruptly. Apparently, according to press reports, a doctor had considered a multiple heart bypass for the congressman.
If Janklow is charged with negligence in an auto death, he could face a prison sentence of 10 years or more and a $10,000 fine.
He was being considered by Republicans to run for Sen. Tom Daschle's seat.
But Janklow's political career may be coming to an end, perhaps because South Dakota hadn't worked out a way to discipline speeders.
