Woman killed at site where granddaughter died in crash
The grandmother of a young woman killed a week ago on Springfield Road died yesterday afternoon at the same location.
State police said last night that Ruth M. Bellio, 74, of Midlothian, died minutes after being struck by a car yesterday near Springfield Road and Jones Road in Henrico County. Her husband, Joseph, was injured and taken to VCU Medical Center.
"It appears they were taking flowers to the scene of her granddaughter's death," said Lt. C. Ferrigno of the Henrico Police Department.
Bellio, in a brief telephone message yesterday morning to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, said she cherished her granddaughter and was upset that the media had reported her granddaughter's history of alcohol abuse.
"I helped raise her. She was like my own daughter," the grandmother said.
Danielle L. Bellio, 25, died late Saturday night a week ago after a high-speed police chase that had covered about 4 miles and ended when Bellio's vehicle crashed into a tree off of Springfield Road .
A police officer had seen her running a red light on West Broad Street near West Broad Village.
State police said Ruth Bellio was struck by a car after it had hit the pickup truck Bellio had just left, which was parked partially on Springfield Road.
The car then was struck by a northbound vehicle in the northbound lane. An investigation is continuing.
Ruth Bellio's death came a day after a funeral for her granddaughter, a young woman who had suffered a brain injury in a crash six years earlier that killed her best friend, according to a close friend of Danielle Bellio's.
Danielle Bellio often traveled on Springfield Road to get to her apartment near West Broad Street and Parham Road.
Danielle Bellio's brother, in an account backed by another friend contacted by The Times-Dispatch, told a Richmond television station last week that Danielle had been drinking heavily the night of the accident.
Court records in Henrico show that she had been convicted of driving under the influence in March and was due to appear in court Dec. 8 on a charge of driving on a suspended or revoked license.
Court files show she pleaded with a Henrico judge to lessen restrictions on her license.
In a letter dated Oct. 31, she said court costs and towing fees were forcing her out of her apartment because of increasing costs.
"I can barely make my rent and bills each month . . . Please have mercy on me . . . I plead and beg of you. I cannot recover from this."
The letter was received Nov. 5 and a clerk set a hearing date for Dec. 8, the same day of her scheduled court appearance on the charge of driving on a suspended license.
Contact Bill McKelway at (804) 649-6601 or
.
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Reader Reactions
As someone who has lost someone in a tragic way on VA roads, my family and I have a roadside memorial up.
I understadn that everyone has their own opinion, but some of you are just cold and seem a little heartless. Who are you to judge how someone wants to remember their loved one?? If flowers on the road distract you that much, dont f’n drive.
I passed by this site and saw these people perhaps moments before the accident. The sun was low and in my eyes as I headed south on Springfield Road. I can understand why the driver might not have been able to completely see the truck and the pedestrians. The truck being parked as it was made for a dangerous situation.
This is a very sad tragedy for everyone involved, especially the Bellio family. The grandparents should not have parked their truck where they did, and the driver of the southbound Altima definitely should not have crashed into their stationary Dodge Rams pickup truck. I live in this area and I can tell you many drivers would speed past this section like it’s a race track.
Here’s the Google Street View (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode;=&q=23060&sll=37.668047,-77.557849&sspn=0.003431,0.008256&ie=UTF8&hq;=&hnear=Glen+Allen,+Henrico,+Virginia+23060&ll=37.668425,-77.558681&spn=0.006828,0.016512&z=17&layer=c&cbll=37.66847,-77.558579&panoid=CFWucqW4BraAsuW8x0Mhxg&cbp=12,234.08,,0,22.31) showing the view that the southbound driver would have seen before the accident. Yes, there is a curve, but there is more than enough distance to see the parked truck and slow down.
Here are the guidelines for establishing roadside memorials in VA:
http://www.virginiadot.org/info/resources/2Roadside_memorials_details.pdf
Unless these people obtained a permit and adhered to the guidelines, they were in violation.
I myself think its abit morbid to go and set a memorial at a marker where a loved one was killed, but we all deal with grief in different ways. I moved here from Florida last year and there was one highway in particular that sometimes had 10-20 markers set up. It was a major distraction on an already dangerous highway. I think they should be limited to a small Cross, Star of David, or whatever ones religious preference symbol be.
I personally don’t want to drive by the place my friend was killed and see that marker every day. I want to remember how they lived not how they died. PLEASE write your representatives and make ALL roadside ‘memorials’ illegal!! That’s why we have cemeteries and places of worship and homes. Remember your loved one there; not on the side of a road like a piece of litter!
Now that I think about it even more, this should be illegal. Just think, there are on average about 35,000 people killed on our highways each year. If every person put up a “memorial” and refreshed it all during the year and years following, the roadsides would be littered with these things and many more would be killed just like this poor lady. Just to keep things safer (which is what we should be doing), make these things illegal. Mourn at home where you’re much safer.
Roadside shrines are pointless and dangerous, not to mention illegal -
Posted by revnhoj
“This is unfortunately a good example why these roadside memorials are illegal in Virginia”
You posted a link to the statute, but apparently did not bother to actually read it! They are not illegal, but simply must be placed “...in accordance with criteria established…“
This is unfortunately a good example why these roadside memorials are illegal in Virginia:
http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+33.1-206.1
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