HOLLIDAYSBURG - Sarah Scott of Pennsylvania Furnace once dreamed of moving up in the cycling world. Her dream was shattered June 29, 2005, as she participated in a Tour de 'Toona race around Martinsburg Borough.
Coming off Sportsman Road onto Route 866, a 90-degree turn, her bicycle went off the highway and into a 3-foot ditch. Scott shattered several vertebrae and now is paralyzed from the waist down.
Officials associated with the tour Thursday asked that a lawsuit Scott filed two years ago be dismissed because she signed at least two waivers of responsibility before the race acknowledging that cycling carries with it risks of injury.
"This type of activity, all types of athletic events, have risks and dangers," said attorney Robert Behling, who spoke on behalf of the Altoona Bicycle Club, the official sponsor of the Tour de 'Toona; the USA Cycling Federation, which sanctioned the race; and PennDOT and Huston Township, which maintained the highways.
PennDOT and Huston Township have immunity against lawsuits, argued Behling as he tried to convince Blair County Judge Tim Sullivan to dismiss civil charges against those two government agencies.
Scott's attorney, Marcy L. Colkitt of Indiana, fired back, stating that "recklessness was not released in this case."
She contended that the Altoona Bicycle Club and USA Cycling advertised a safe race, yet ignored the deep ditch along Route 866.
Colkitt maintained that bales of hay, placed at many spots along the route, should have been placed at Sportsman Road and Route 866 to protect riders.
She said there were at least two spills at that point in past races, but without serious injury.
Larry Bilotto, president of the Altoona Bicycle Club, said in a deposition that he knew about the ditch, according to Colkitt.
Behling retorted that while Bilotto may have known about "a condition [the ditch], that doesn't make it a hazard."
Colkitt said Scott never knew the ditch was there because it was covered with grass.
"You can't assume [a risk] that you can't see," Colkitt said.
Sullivan spent more than two hours Thursday listening to the legal arguments.
"There's quite a bit of emotion involved in this case," he said.
Sullivan said he will decide within weeks whether the civil lawsuit can continue.
The case already involves thousands of pages of testimony, including 25 depositions from witnesses.
