Bike Week and
its smaller cousin, Biketoberfest, draw hundreds of thousands of
riders to Daytona and surrounding Florida counties.
Unfortunately, the Bike Week and Biketoberfest death tolls keep
climbing.
Motorcycle Accident Deaths during Bike Week:
Bike Week of March 2006 was the deadliest Bike Week on record
with 21 deaths. The 10-day event attracted more than 500,000
visitors to the Daytona area. The previous record of motorcycle
deaths connected to Bike Week was 15 fatalities which occurred
in 2000. Although the turnout was about the same as previous
years, the nature of the event is transforming, says Kevin
Kilian, vice president of events and communications for The
Chamber, Daytona Beach Halifax Area. It is no longer centered in
Daytona Beach along Main Street, Kilian says. Bikers are being
lured to such destinations as Ormond Beach, DeLand, Edgewater,
and Orlando. During the most recent Biketoberfest (October 2005)
there were five reported motorcycle related deaths.
Although impaired and inexperienced motorcycle riders are to
blame for many such accidents, according to law enforcement
officials 40 percent of the Bike Week deaths in 2006 were caused
by the driver of another vehicle. In the 2006 Bike Week
fatalities in which drivers were determined at fault, at least
six of the bikers who died were wearing helmets.
Although there are some groups currently advocating stiffer
penalties against car drivers who carelessly collide with
motorcycles, in general careless drivers who kill bikers do not
face felony charges such as vehicular homicide unless they leave
the scene of the accident or they have been speeding, drinking
or driving with a suspended license. Typically, traffic fines
for drivers who kill range from $200 to $1,000. Licenses also
often are suspended. Although these careless drivers can
sometimes be held accountable for substantial money damages in
personal injury or wrongful death claims, many negligent
motorists carry no liability insurance and they have very few
assets with which to compensate their victims or the family of
the victims. That is why McMillen Law Firm strongly
recommends that motorcycle riders carry
uninsured motorist coverage.
Types of Accidents Causing Deaths:
There were of course many other motorcycle accidents that caused
severe injuries that did not result in death. Some examples of
the 2006 Bike Week motorcycle accidents involving rider or
passenger deaths appear below:
While trying to pass a truck pulling a trailer, a
51-year-old motorcycle rider collided head on into another
motorcycle rider on State Road 40 just north of Ormond Beach.
Both motorcycle riders died.
A pickup turned in front of a biker on International Speedway
Boulevard. The 60-year-old motorcyclist slammed into the side of
the pickup and died on the scene. Troopers said the motorcycle
rider was wearing a helmet and obeying the speed limit.
A 44-year-old corrections officer from West Palm Beach died
while driving his 2003 Honda Shadow from International Speedway
Boulevard to Interstate 95. He lost control of the motorcycle
and hit a guardrail. He was not wearing a helmet.
In Port Orange, a 59-year-old rider from Virginia crossed over
his lane and drove his Harley Davidson into a Harley Davidson
driven by a 50-year-old rider from New York. Neither was wearing
a helmet, and one died and the other was seriously injured. A
female passenger who was wearing a helmet was reported to have
leg injuries.
In a crash occurring in Flagler County on U.S. Highway 1 near
Belle Terre Parkway a 22-year-old car driver turned his vehicle
in front of a motorcycle killing a 41-year-old motorcycle rider
and his 37-year-old female passenger.
A 21-year-old Suzuki rider was killed on State Road 435 north of
Apopka when he lost control at a curb, slid, and hit a
guardrail.
A 63-year-old Lake Wales man was killed after a sport utility
vehicle struck the back of his motorcycle when he was stopped at
a light on West International Speedway Boulevard and Tomoka
Farms Road in Daytona Beach.
A man died in a single-motorcycle crash at U.S. Highway 1 and
Old Kings Road in Flagler County when he lost control and drove
off the road
A 21-year-old Jacksonville woman died in St. Augustine while
riding home from Bike Week. A sport utility vehicle changed
lanes on Interstate 95 and hit the back of the motorcycle. The
woman was a passenger on the bike driven by her 25-year-old
boyfriend, who was reported to be in critical condition. Both
riders were wearing helmets.
A 42-year-old Lakeland man died when his 1985 Harley-Davidson
motorcycle collided with another while traveling side-by-side on
the Bee Line Expressway at the State Road 520 Exit in Brevard
County. He was wearing a helmet.
A 67-year-old traveling north on Interstate 95 near the
Brevard-Volusia County line was killed when his Honda motorcycle
ran into the center median near Scottsmoor. His motorcycle
overturned several times in the median. He was wearing a helmet.
A 1995 Honda motorcycle driven by a 32-year-old man from Deland
collided with a sport utility vehicle on International Speedway
Boulevard at about 2:30 a.m. Police said the SUV, driven by a
35-year-old St. Augustine woman, stopped momentarily at a red
light and then drove into the intersection with Indigo Drive,
where the crash occurred. The motorcycle rider and his
35-year-old passenger both died, and neither wore a helmet.
Although the pair had head injuries, EVAC officials said helmets
might not have saved their lives because they had other
injuries.
A motorcyclist died in Oak Hill on U.S. Highway 1 after crashing
into a deer that ran onto the roadway at 6 am. The motorcyclist
was then run over by a van
Motorcycle Deaths Occurring during Biketoberfest
2006
During the much smaller 2006
Biketoberfest event there were 7 reported motorcycle deaths.
Reports included:
AGE:
Male 70
HOMETOWN: Sanford
CRASH SITE: State Road
415 and Fort Smith Boulevard, Deltona
HELMET: Yes, but flew
off from impact
OF NOTE: Killed when a
car turned left in front of him.
AGE: Male 44
HOMETOWN: Anchorage,
Alaska
CRASH SITE:
International Speedway Boulevard at Wild Olive Avenue
HELMET: Yes
OF NOTE: Was seen
slumped over the handlebars before hitting a curb and then the
pavement. Autopsy is pending.
AGE: Male 68
HOMETOWN: Bunnell
CRASH SITE: State Road
100, four miles west of Deen Road, Bunnell
HELMET: Yes
OF NOTE: Attempted to
pass a tractor-trailer and was hit head-on.
AGE: Female 58
HOMETOWN: Boynton
Beach
CRASH SITE: Interstate
4 near State Road 44, Volusia County
HELMET: No
OF NOTE: A passenger,
was taken to Halifax Medical Center after the crash with
injuries not thought to be life-threatening. She died later.
AGE: Female 39
HOMETOWN: Coconut
Creek
CRASH SITE: West
International Speedway Boulevard, Daytona Beach
HELMET: not applicable
OF NOTE: Was crossing
ISB, not at a crosswalk, when she was struck by a motorcycle.
AGE: Male 45
HOMETOWN: Spring Hill
CRASH SITE: Mason
Avenue and Williamson Boulevard.
HELMET: Unknown
OF NOTE: Speeding west
on Mason Avenue, he lost control and hit a curb.
AGE: Male 82
HOMETOWN: Tampa
CRASH SITE: U.S. 92
and Harney Road, Tampa
HELMET: Yes
OF NOTE: Swerved to
avoid a slowing SUV and rear-ended a pickup in the other lane.
Was returning from Daytona Beach.
Motorcycle Deaths Occurring during Biketoberfest
2005:
There were 6 reported motorcycle deaths connected to
Biketoberfest of October 2005, 4 of which occurred in a single
incident. In 2003, two people died during BiketoberFest,
and there were 4 deaths in 2001 and 4 deaths in 2002.
In the October 2005, Biketoberfest, two cars plowed into
four motorcyclists stopped at an accident scene. Three of the
bikers died at the scene just before midnight Oct. 19 and a
fourth died eight hours later at the hospital. All of the bikers
were kneeling or lying in the southbound lane of State Road 415
after crashing into a shaggy black dog and each other. Police
stated the bikers could not be seen in the middle of the dark
roadway and there was no time for the oncoming car drivers to
react.
Also during the 2005 Biketoberfest, a 20-year-old man died when
the motorcycle he was driving slammed into the back of a pickup.
Police report the motorcyclist was wearing a helmet but was also
speeding.
If you have been involved in a Bike Week or Biketoberfest
accident, please feel free to fill out our online form
"Do I have a good case?" or
call our toll free number: 1-800-974-4929.
The
McMillen Law Firm represents motorcycle accident victims
throughout Florida, including Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville,
Ft. Lauderdale, Bradenton, Clearwater, Daytona Beach, Fort
Myers, Fort Pierce, Kissimmee, Melbourne, Miami, Naples,
Panama City, Pensacola, Sarasota, St. Augustine, St.
Petersburg, Sebring, Tallahassee, Vero Beach, and West Palm
Beach, and the counties of Bay, Brevard, Broward, Collier,
Dade, Duval, Escambia, Highlands, Hillsborough, Indian
River, Lee, Leon, Manatee, Martin, Miami, Orange, Osceola,
Palm Beach, Pinellas, Polk, St. John’s, St. Lucie, Sarasota,
Stuart, and Volusia.
