A GRIEVING North Van- couver mother, whose 23-year-old son died in a local cycling accident last year, is taking a personal safety message to the streets. By Michael Becker News Reporter is handing out commemorative towels bearing safety messages to cyclists she sees riding without sufficient safety gear. . Said Jean Wiebe, ‘I really didn’t want just a bench on the seawall — I wanted do to some- thing more practical, to save at least one other person out there. “So I came up with the idea. Every time I see a cyclist out there | want to stop them and say, ‘Get a light, get a helmet.’ Jean Wiebe Scott Wiebe died Jan. 26, 1991, when the bicycle he was riding collided head-on with a pickup truck at the intersection of Third Street and Low Level Road. He was wearing a helmet, but his mountain bike was not equipped with lights. “He had a silver jacket on, but that wasn’t enough. He used to wear my husband’s safety vest, but that was in a box because they were moving that day, so was the light for his bike. **But even helmets don’t save. Scott had his helmet on. He hit the windshield. Scott had the right of way, but he’s dead,”’ Wiebe said. She is handing out Japanese spert towels to get her point across. The towels are printed with the name of Scott Wiebe and urge cyclists to ‘‘be safe, be seen.”” **I’ve got them in my car, and I'm going to stop people when it’s appropriate to pull over. “I’m also going to write up some kind of a letter from a parent’s point of view — how NEWS photo Mike CYCLIST WARREN Wiison and Jean Wiebe dispiay one of the memorial towels created in memory of Scott Wiebe and in- fended to promote bike safety. Scott Wiebe died Jan. 26, 1991, when the bicycte he was riding collided head-on with a pickup truck at the Intersection of Third Street and Low Level Road. devastating it is to lose some- one,”’ she said. Wiebe supports a_ private member’s bill introduced Nov. 19 by Okanagan West Socred MLA Cliff Serwa that would re- quire cyclists to wear approved bicycle safety helmets. But she believes a legislated effort to improve cycling safety must go a step beyond the man- datory wearing of helmets. Said Wiebe, ‘‘i’d like to see bikes ficensed, because there are so many of them oui there, and they are in the traffic with the cars. “A light is one part of ic. I think they need to be visible and with the helmets.’’ The B.C. Medical Association (BCMA) and the B.C. Royal Commission on Health Care and Costs support the mandatory wearing of bicycle helmets by B.C. cyclists. According to BCMA findings, cyclists who wear helmets reduce the risk of head injury by 85% and brain injury by 88%. NVD plans ‘urgent’ meeting Crist seeks legal counsel after removal as acting mayor THE REMOVAL Monday of North Vancouver District Coun. Ernie Crist from his role as acting mayor has Crist seeking legal counsei and coz ncil planning to meet Dec. 7 for an ‘‘urgent shirt-sleeves’’ session. As reported in the Nov. 25 News, council removed Crist from the office of acting mayor follow- ing recent critical comments made by Crist. As acting mayor, Crist lam- basted council, accusing his fellow council members of ‘‘corruption’’ in terms of “pursuing policies that are bankrupt, immoral and intel- lectually not acceptable.”’ A motion proposed by Coun. Rick Buchols to remove Crist as acting mayor for his current term and not reappoint him in the 1992-93 year was supported in the 4-3 council vote. Crist sees the expulsion as an attempt to intimidate him. “But of course it’s absolutely fuiile,’’ he said. Said Crist Friday, ‘‘I have re- quested through our manager a legal opinion from our solicitor. Depending on the answer, I may take further action. I feel that this may be a very interesting case. “The only thing that they could do this under is if it (the state- By Michael Becker News Reporter ment) was libellous. . “Ivs not libellous simply because of the qualifying state- ment. Corruption could be libellous, but it is explained, not meaning stealing, but corruption in another sense. I think that would be something interesting for the civil liberties people to decvide,’’ he said. Meanwhile, Coun. Joan Gadsby asked Mayor Murray Dykeman to call an urgent meeting. Said Gadbsy, ‘‘Basically there are problems. What happened with Coun. Crist is simply in my view a symptom of the problems. “Once and for all we have to sit down and deal with it in a con- structive manner. The problem as I see it is a mounting disillusion- ment with how effectively the district is running. “I don’t want to say anything derogatory about anybody. I just want to see us get On a construc- tive path. ‘‘We’ve got a year to go, and if we want to get anything done we’ve got to work together. ‘Council is so badly fragmented, and Murray is trying. I think he’s sincerely trying his best, but it is a question of Jead- ership as well as direction,’’ Gadsby said. Crist said he is pessimistic about the outcome of such a meeting. “It’s a waste of effom. The fact remains in politics everybody stakes out his claim. Whether you are successful depends on how geod you are and to what extent you can solicit public opinion. That’s what it’s all about. I’m not sure [ will even go,”’ he said. But said Gadsby, ‘‘I’m looking for an open discussion of what it is that is bugging the various peo- ple, what can we do to have an effective operation. “But one of the things that I become more and more aware of is that we need people to get in- velved. The public should express their say, don’t just come out on a single issue, follow what’s going on. They need to care. We've got a beautiful community.”’ Sunday, Nov. 29, 1992 - North Shore News - 3 Mian describes watching wife killed in crash Accused faces cocaine charge A WEST Vancouver man described at a B.C. Supreme Court trial on Thursday how he saw the driver of a car look him ‘‘straight in the eye’’ before the car hit his wife and threw her body :1:to the air. Rudolf Von Schlack told Mr. Justice Donald Clancy during cross-examination that he saw his wife’s body thrown into the air after a Mazda RX-7 sports car veered off Marine Drive at 19th Street in West Vancouver onto the sidewalk, striking his wife as she walked along behind him. The car then plowed into a nearby gas station, where it caught fire, Von = Schiack testified. A 50-year-old fire retardant salesman, Laverne Darrell Vanlerberghe, of Vancouver, was charged with criminal negligence causing the death of Ingaborg Von Schlack, 56, following the March 30, 1991, accident. “| heard the noise, turned around and saw what was coming. He looked me straight in the cye. 1 thought that he would just run me down, which for me would be a big benefit,’’ said Von Schlack. “Then I saw her up in the air. When you see something like that, you're going to suffer a very low point. There’s nothing left for you to live for. I knew at that moment that she was dead.” Both a Lions Gate hospital doc- tor and an ambulance attendant testified earlier in the trial that Vanlerberghe told them he doesn’t remember how the accident hap- pened. And Vanlerberghe is not scheduled to testify. But defence attorney Joel Gold By Cheryl Ziola Contributing Writer suggested to the court Wednesday that Vanlerberghe, who has a his- tory of ‘‘dizzy spelis,’’ may have suffered one of those spells before the accident. In later testimony, Von Schlack said the driver and passenger of the Mazda removed a_ small package from the burning car after it came to a stop atop a gas pump island. Gold then suggested to Von Schlack that he did not see both the passenger and driver remove a ‘‘package’’ but only the passenger Temove some camera equipment, as witnessed by a garage atten- dant. Retorted Von Schlack: ‘*I’m not good at making up stories. [’m prepared to give up.”’ But later that same night, the police also charged Vanlerberghe with possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking. The charge followed observa- tions of the accused recounted Thursday by police officers in a voir dire (a trial within a trial), the details of which cannot be published. A date for an additioncl trial on Vanlerberghe’s cocaine charge is scheduled to be fixed on Dec. 2. The criminal negligence trial continues. Teens meet with police to open communication lines LOCAL TEENS will meet with members of the North Vancouver RCMP at a Dec. 9 forum hosted by the police in an attempt to open lines of communication. Said North Vancouver RCMP Const. Marty Blais, a member of the community policing section of the detachment, ‘It's basically us and the school liaison officer that’s putting it on. We want to give an opportunity for the teens to speak openly to the police about the situation the teens are facing in the area, on a daily, monthly and yearly basis. ‘We want to examine the vio- lence and weapons problem expe- rienced over the past few months. “We want to begin a com- ‘ehensive and educational pro- cess involving a proactive program generated by the teens of North Vancouver and the RCMP. “‘We want to identify how vul- nerable students are to possible involvement in youth problems,’’ Blais said. Blais said the youth forum is timely, but should not be taken as By Michael Becker News Reporter an indication of increased prob- lems faced by young people. “Things haven't deteriorated, but things have been more expos- ed,’’ he said. North Vancouver RCMP Statistics show a decrease for the first 10 months of the year in the number of juvenile Criminal Code charges. This year police records show 126 juveniles facing charges. Last year for the same period 214 ju- veniles faced Criminal Code charges. Blais credits the increasingly Proactive involvement of residents within the community as a factor in keeping a lid on crime levels. The police have yet to secure a location for the forum. AA LENE ALE NT a I OE DENG IS index @ Vintage Years Weather Monday, rain, Highs 9°C, Lows 4°C. Canadian Publications Mail Salea Product Agrasment Number 0087238