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Published on Thursday, March 16, 2006
in the Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
Grim toll of record Bike Week rises to 19
Officials said a Marion County death was related to Bike Week, raising the death count by one more.
The death toll for the deadliest Bike Week ever climbed to 19 after officials Wednesday confirmed a Marion County crash was related to the Daytona Beach biker rally.
The 19 died in 18 crashes across Central Florida. Ten of the deaths occurred in Volusia County.
Despite the number of fatalities, paramedics and hospital workers in Volusia saw about the same number of patients as last year, when there were seven fatal crashes.
EVAC Ambulance responded to 283 motorcycle collisions and took 133 patients to the hospital, authorities said. Halifax Medical Center, the county's only trauma center, admitted 65 patients injured in motorcycle crashes, officials said.
Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Kim Miller said eight of the victims were wearing helmets and eight were not. In three cases, the helmet was not fastened properly or came off on impact.
Five of the 18 crashes involved just the motorcycle. In the other 13, eight were the fault of another driver, and the motorcycle driver caused five, Miller said.
In the latest crash added to the tally, Richard Germain, 21, of New Hampshire died March 8 on State Road 40 when he attempted to pass a truck across double-yellow lines, Miller said. Germain started sliding when he noticed another biker coming his way. The second biker drove over him, Miller said.
Germain, who was not wearing a helmet and was at fault in the crash, was pronounced dead at Shands Hospital in Gainesville, Miller said.
This year's 19 deaths passed the old record of 15 set in 2000.
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