Published on Monday, March 13, 2006
in the Orlando Sentinel

Bike Week sees record number of deaths

DAYTONA BEACH -- The Bike Week death toll reached a record 18 as the 10-day gathering of chrome and leather ended Sunday.

The Florida Highway Patrol said several factors, including good weather and careless car drivers who caused some of the crashes, likely contributed to the rash of fatal crashes.

On Sunday, bikers parked their rides and bowed their heads in The Basilica of St. Paul's parking lot during a special blessing for travelers and their motorcycles -- an annual tradition at the Catholic Church in Daytona Beach marking Bike Week's close.

Bikers Lester and Debbie Shaw of Atlanta said while the deaths were tragic and regrettable, most attending the festivities didn't allow them to overshadow the gathering.

"It comes up, maybe, as a side conversation," said Lester Shaw, 56. "It's not a main topic, though. Most bikers don't dwell on it. They really don't."

Debbie Shaw, 53, said, "I try not to think about it, and when I get on the bike with him, I just kind of look at the heavens, and I say three prayers."

She says her "Angel of God" prayer, Hail Mary and the Lord's Prayer before getting on the couple's Kawasaki Nomad.

For the blessing, she made the sign of the cross after Basilica Rector Bob Webster sprinkled holy water on the bikers and their motorcycles. Then Webster offered some lighthearted advice, raising his voice above the occasional rumble of bike traffic along nearby Ridgewood Avenue.

"Go in peace," Webster told the bikers. "And rise up. Get the decibels up there real high."

An estimated 500,000 bikers visited Volusia County -- a county with about 500,000 residents -- during the event, which kicked off March 3.

The pleasant weather translated into more motorcycles, FHP spokeswoman Kim Miller said.

The previous record number of Bike Week deaths was 15 in 2000.

Although the turnout was about the same as previous years, the nature of the event is transforming, said Kevin Kilian, vice president of events and communications for The Chamber, Daytona Beach Halifax Area.

It's no longer centered in Daytona Beach along Main Street, Kilian said. Bikers are being lured to such destinations as Ormond Beach, DeLand, Edgewater and Orlando, he said.

Still, local merchants have given "overwhelmingly positive" reports about business they've received as a result from Bike Week, Kilian said.

The final numbers weren't ready Sunday. "But everything is looking pretty good," he said about initial comments. Halfway through last week, he said, "merchants were happy." And business appeared strong during the second half of the week and during the weekend, he said.

The FHP and other local law enforcers were busy, too.

Among the last bikers who died during Bike Week was Brian Arthur Rooke, 44, a corrections officer from West Palm Beach, authorities said. The FHP said Rooke was driving his 2003 Honda Shadow from International Speedway Boulevard to Interstate 95 when he lost control of the vehicle at 3:42 p.m. Saturday.

Rooke was not wearing a helmet when his motorcycle hit a guardrail, and he was thrown off, the FHP's Miller said.

In Port Orange on Friday, authorities said Alvin Lee Palmer, 59, of Arlington, Va., drove his Harley Davidson into a Harley Davidson driven by Robert Conklin, 50, of Harpursville, N.Y.

Police said Palmer, who was not wearing a helmet and who died at the scene, was going east on Herbert Street before steering his motorcycle into the westbound lane.

Police said Conklin, who also wasn't wearing a helmet, was transported to Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach with severe leg, head and neck injuries. He was listed in serious but stable condition Sunday.

His passenger, Deborah Conklin, 44, also of Harpursville, N.Y., was wearing a helmet. She was taken to Halifax Medical Center with possible leg injuries, police said.

Officials said Janet Welsbach, 37, died Thursday as a result of injuries she suffered as a motorcycle passenger in a crash in Flagler County on March 5.

In that crash, FHP officials said Robert Lee Welsbach, 41, also died on U.S. Highway 1 near Belle Terre Parkway after James Lester Davis, 22, turned his vehicle in front of his motorcycle about 3:20 p.m..