A family's lawsuit stemming from the death of a bicycle rider in the 2004 RAGBRAI is scheduled to go to trial in October 2007.
Betty Jo Ullrich and her daughters are suing Crawford County due to negligence in the death of Kirk Ullrich, 49, who died after his bicycle tire hit a crack in the road pavement and he fell.
The accident happened on July 25, 2004, on County Road E-16 west of Schleswig, when Ullrich hit a crack in the center of the road.
Several accidents stopped the ride as cyclists fell on the rolling route through the Loess Hills that opening day of RAGBRAI XXXII. Ullrich was airlifted to a local hospital, according to the Des Moines Register's website.
Ullrich's family contends the county didn't properly design the road, failed to warn riders about the danger and that other cyclists had fallen off their bikes in the same area.
Crawford County maintained that Ullrich was negligent, but had lost its motion to dismiss the suit.
According to an article in the Daily Nonpareil, RAGBRAI participants must sign a waiver before the ride that exempts the Des Moines Register and other entities from liability. That form was changed this year to exempt “persons and entities that provide event recommendations, advice or services relating to matters such as route selection or maintenance, risk management, safety and first aid.”
Twenty-five cyclists have died during RAGBRAI over the years.
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