Developing: Other Car In Senator Janet Bewley Fatal Accident Was Going 100 MPH At Time Of Impact
New developments in the two-time fatal car accident that Wisconsin State Senator Janet Bewley was involved in: The driver of the other car was traveling at 100 mph at the moment of impact. That's the latest gleaned from just-released police documents based off of the preliminary investigation of the incident that occured on July 22 on US Highway 2 in Ashland.
Those documents detail that the vehicle driven westbound on the highway by Alyssa Ortman struck a vehicle operated by Senator Bewley as she entered the highway from a parking area for Maslowski Park. After striking Bewley's vehicle, Ortman's spun in a clockwise rotation, crossed the center line, and struck the drivers side of another vehicle.
Ortman and her 5-year old daughter - a passenger in her vehicle - died later as a result of the injuries of the crash.
Even as local and state law enforcement agencies conducted their review of the crash scene, the father of Ortman's 5-year old daughter filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Senator Bewley. Bewley had been on her cellphone at the time of the impact, participating in an interview; she had also had "a medical procedure the day before" the accident.
Bewley and the driver of the other vehicle struck by Ortman were transported to the local hospital for medical treatment; neither were seriously injured.
While the investigation continues, the detail that the driver of the vehicle that suffered the fatalities was traveling at 100 mph in a zone with a 45 mph speed limit presents a piece of evidence that will likely be important to the wrongful death lawsuit filed against Bewley.