I sifted through an 18-page report and wrote this front page story on it after

6 p.m. because the report was not released until then. Nobody in the newsroom knew
it was coming.
Report: 3 factors led to Lake sheriff's death - FHP rules out Eslinger's
aggressive driving
Daytona Beach News-Journal (FL) - November 30, 2006
Author/Byline: SETH ROBBINS - STAFF WRITER
Edition: Final
Section: Section A
Page: 01A

A combination of poor visibility, lack of experience driving a school bus - much less racing one - and not using his seat
belt led to Lake County Sheriff Chris Daniels being ejected and killed during a charity event at New Smyrna Speedway
last month, the Florida Highway Patrol has concluded.

An 18-page report released by the FHP on Wednesday also refuted claims by another competitor and his racing foreman
that Seminole County Sheriff Don Eslinger was driving aggressively before his bus hit Daniels', setting off a spin that
threw the Lake sheriff out onto the track where he was hit by his own bus and Eslinger's.

Retired Lake County Sheriff Noel Griffin and his foreman, Richard Pettis, told investigators Eslinger was driving
aggressively, but the report found all racers drove "appropriately."

The crash was the first contact between Eslinger and Daniels' buses, and it was a minor spinout, typical of these
races, states the report by Cpl. David Templeton. If Sheriff Daniels, 47, had been wearing his seat belt and the door
had been properly closed, he likely would not have been thrown from the bus, Templeton wrote.

"I knew that I didn't make any other contact," said Eslinger in a phone interview. "They (Griffin and Pettis) were grieving
and they were emotional. I don't fault them for that. It's been a nightmare." Griffin and Pettis did not respond to phone
calls Wednesday night.

The Seminole County sheriff's bus made contact with Daniels' bus during the Oct. 14 "Battle of the Badges," a charity race
at New Smyrna Speedway for the Florida Sheriffs Youth Ranches. It was the fifth year Volusia County Sheriff Ben
Johnson put on the event, and the first year anyone was seriously injured.

"I know that Donnie (Eslinger) was devastated," Johnson said. "He has been to all the races, and he has always raced
me hard, but I am totally comfortable with him going around the track with me. Don would never intentionally hurt somebody."

According to the report, a series of events led to Daniels' death. All of the windows were spray painted on his bus except for
a portion of the left front windshield where the paint had been scraped away with a razor blade. His side windows
were lowered to let him see out the sides. There were no outside side mirrors, however, because they could shatter when
the buses run close to each other, said Don Nerone, who oversaw the bus race for New Smyrna Speedway.

"From the interior mirror, you have full vision all the way around," he said. "Visibility was perfectly fine for racing."

But the report says Daniels lacked clear visibility because of a combination of the painted windows, a full-face helmet,
and the lack of mirrors. Also, this was Daniels' first bus race, and his inexperience driving a bus, especially in a
competitive environment, weighed heavily in the investigation.

Eslinger was driving about 27 mph just before the crash, well below the higher speeds of the race, which neared 50 mph.

file:///Users/njuser/Desktop/seth%20website/...0factors%20led%20to%20sheriff's%20death.html (1 of 2) [8/23/08 4:37:02 PM]

 Multi-Print Viewer

According to the report, Daniels was not wearing his lap belt when the crash took place, which would have prevented
him from being thrown from the bus onto the track. The belt was functioning during the race, the report states.

Even Daniels' wife, Michelle, had urged him to put on his safety belt before the race, and several witnesses said that he
was restrained before the race. But investigators said there was equal evidence that he took it off to complain about
visibility, to stick his head through a window for a photograph or to talk to someone.

Without the seat belt, there was only one more protective measure that could have saved Daniels - the bus door.

"If the bus door had been closed, Sheriff Daniels likely would not have made it out of the bus," the report states.

The report does not conclude why he opened the door, but several witnesses speculated it was so he could see. Nerone
said that opening the door would not have helped with his peripheral vision.

"If your windows were fogged up," he said, "would you open your door to see the ground?"

Preliminary cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head, chest and abdomen. Witnesses said both of his legs
had been severed. Daniels, who grew up in Lake County and spent his adult life in public service there, left behind his
wife and three teenage children, Ashley, Chris Jr. and Lindsey.

Sheriff Johnson said despite the findings that Daniels' death was an accident, he will stand by his decision not to continue
the charity bus races.

"I'm sad. I'm sorry. I'm most sorry that we lost Chris in this thing and you can never replace him," he said.

Although the report concluded that all the racers were driving appropriately, Johnson acknowledged there are
always dangers when getting behind the wheel of a couple of buses to race.

"You're running hard." he said. "When you talk about (racing) safely, you're not trying to hurt people and do severe
damage. It's still a race in a somewhat dangerous situation."
Caption: 5 Photos
Photo 1: At 9:20 p.m. in lap 12 of 15 in the Battle of the Badges charity bus race Oct. 14, while approaching Turn 3,
Seminole County Sheriff Don Eslinger's bus makes contact with the bus driven by Lake County Sheriff Chris Daniels.
Photo 2: Daniels' bus starts into a slow counterclockwise spin. As Daniels' bus spins, he is ejected through the open
door. Photo 3: About three seconds after contact, the Lake sheriff's bus continues to spin sideways as the rear left of his
own bus strikes him, followed by the front right corner of Eslinger's bus. Photo 4: As the battered body of Daniels comes
to rest on the track apron, his bus, now rolling backward, hits the infield wall. The crash is over in eight seconds.
Florida Highway Patrol Photo 5: Chris Daniels

Record Number: 409768870

Copyright, 2006, The News-Journal Corporation

file:///Users/njuser/Desktop/seth%20website/...0factors%20led%20to%20sheriff's%20death.html (2 of 2) [8/23/08 4:37:02 PM]