Bike Week 2006

[jamais]

Excerpt from Daytona, Fl. online newspaper:

March 12, 2006

Local Bike Week death toll climbs to 14

By SETH ROBBINS
Staff Writer

The odometer on Robert Fliss' new Harley-Davidson motorcycle read 72.5 miles when he crashed and died Saturday.

Fliss, 51, had just bought the motorcycle amid the Bike Week festivities at Destination Daytona north of Ormond Beach and was riding it home to St. Cloud when he lost control around a curve and skidded into a construction site, authorities said.

That wreck happened in Brevard County. Bikers also were killed Saturday in Daytona Beach and near Ormond Beach, pushing the death toll for what was already the deadliest Bike Week on record in Volusia and Flagler counties to 14. When Fliss' death and three others since March 3 in Orange, Seminole and St. Johns counties are added in, a record-breaking 18 Bike-Week-related deaths have been tallied across Central Florida this year. The previous high body counts for the 10-day annual motorcycle rally were 10 in the Volusia/Flagler area in 2000 and 2002, and 15 throughout the larger region in 2000.

And today bikers haul tail out of the area.

More people were drawn to the area this year because of fair weather, said Mark O'Keefe, EVAC ambulance spokesman.

"The cold, hard reality is we have seen a rise in all types of calls," he said.

Locally, a West Palm Beach man died Saturday after he lost control of his motorcycle and struck a guardrail, authorities said.

Brian Rooke, 34, entered the on-ramp for Interstate 95 southbound about 3:45 p.m. from International Speedway Boulevard in Daytona Beach. As he was taking the curve, he lost control of his motorcycle, skidded, and crashed into the guardrail.

He was not wearing a helmet.

A 44-year-old man died on State Road 40 near the intersection of Pinewood Road west of Ormond Beach, Florida Highway Patrol spokeswoman Trooper Kim Miller said. The Naples man was riding west on S.R. 40 about 6:50 p.m. when he attempted to pass a truck and collided head-on with an eastbound motorcycle. The head-on collision caused a chain reaction crash with three other vehicles that closed S.R. 40 for nearly four hours.

The Naples man, who was not wearing a helmet, died at the scene. The Indiana man on the eastbound motorcycle was flown to Halifax Medical Center in critical condition. Nobody else was seriously injured in the accident, Miller said. Names were not available Saturday night because family members had not been notified.

Also Saturday, Mark DeMaster, 43, of DeLand, remained in critical condition at Halifax Medical Center after an accident Thursday night in Samsula that killed an Edgewater man. DeMaster is a sergeant in the DeLand Police Department's patrol division.

Miller attributed the rise in deaths to the sheer number of people riding motorcycles in the area. Some may not be experienced riders, she said, and motorists are not used to the volume of motorcyclists on the road.

Though there have been many types of accidents, all shared one common trait: a mistake.

"A little mistake," she said, "can turn into a deadly one."


I realize there are an abnormal number of riders in a relatively congested area. Are these death numbers, not to mention the injured riders, typical of the number of participants? In other words, on any given day in the U.S., would we expect this many casualties?

[Arby]

Alan
My wife and I just got back from 3 days of bike week. Stayed with friends in Port Orange, (south Daytona area). I read that same article in the local paper at my buddies house this morning.

There are plenty of experienced riders of all types that show up for bike week. Unfortunately, plenty of "bar room bikers, as well as new inexperenced riders show up too. Mix in the carnival atmosphere, riders dressed like they're going to the beach, plus a lot of pissed off locals who ain't gonna give an inch and it doesn't bode well.

But about a half million people show up for bike week, so I'm not sure what a good number is for fatalities. One is too many.

For those who do go, the same survival skills that work at other times, will probably get you home safe from there as well.

Bob

[supermotoC]

"A little mistake".... like, not wearing a helmet. The difference between a death & an injury accident. I'd like to see stats on MC wrecks (and autos, for that matter) that contain: age, riding experience, how long the person has held a drivers' license (MC and/or auto), helmet or no helmet, and how long they've owned that (wrecked) bike. This would be very telling about whether this was just "his time" or a case of over-exuberence (new bike/new license/new rider/young rider), or just bad timing. ATGATT helps, but not until it's a done deal. My condolences go out to all those lost to unavoidable endings. It's the avoidable ones that eliminate the weaker of the species.

[socalrob]

Super,

I'd add type of helmet, how many miles a year the rider rides, how many miles riden on that bike, how many drinks the rider has had in last 12 hours.

I too suspect that some alcohol is involved in many of those bike week accidents. Also, I lived in FLA for 8 years. You could ride all over the state & rarely see a curve outside of an on or off ramp, so I'm not sure how FLA riders ever get much curve experience.

[Arby]

socalrob

We floridians hang out at the off ramps on interstate 95 for local curve training. And if we can put together a 4 day weekend, we go ride the North Carolina mtns. AKA: Deals Gap and surrounding country.

The bike shops in No Carolina sell T shirts with the loggo "318 curves in 11 miles" printed on them.

Someone in Florida started selling t shirts with loggo "11 curves in 318 miles". Most of us think that's a little optimistic.

All kidding aside, it is sad to read of all the needless death and destruction. I live 100 miles from Daytona and we get lots of newsprint about the carnage and problems associated with Bike Week, but not one word about race results or charity activities or bike shows or any other positive things that are newsworthy.

The local Daytona paper does do a decent job of balanced reporting for Bike Week.

I don't have any answers, except to keep our survivals skills up and running.

Bob

[geechie]

Let's face it. There are a lot of motorcycle owners who are just that and only that. My next door neighbor and my step-son come to mind. I don't have to tell you the brand of bike they (infrequently) ride, do I. Neither (to the best of my knowledge) went to Daytona's Bike Week, but both will most likely go to the similar event just up Hwy 17 in Myrtle Beach. Neither will wear a helmet or sufficient protective gear. Both will probably spend more time in "biker bars" than they will riding. I can't cite any studies, but my gut tells me that both stand a significantly greater chance of death or serious injury than I do. And I ride way more miles, at a way higher average speed than both of 'em put together. They both have chicken strips the width of the white sidewalls on a '56 Buick.

They just don't get it. And they are both representitive of so much of what the general public conceives of as motorcycling and motorcyclists. I swear I have argued, pleaded, cajoled, whined, and screamed at Barry, my step-son, to try and help him see reason and he absolutely refuses to.

The death and injury statistics I fear will someday have repercussions that will adversly affect that which we all do and love. Scares the hell out of me sometimes.

George

[Wild Will]

I still maintain the system of licensing and selling bikes to inexperienced riders is at fault. You can go to an event, get bitten by the "lifestyle" bug, and write a check. It takes a long time to learn to handle a motorcycle properly and remain intact. Europe has rules in place (in places) where you are limited to under 250 cc's for the first year or so. An 18 year old can go into a Suzi dlr. and buy a Hayabusa, and become a High Abuser with the snap of a finger.
This is ludicrous, yet part and parcel of the wild west attitude that pulls the Walter Mitty's into the dealerships every day. My own kid, now 22 and with more scars than my 'Nam vet buddies, insisted on an R6 as his 1st bike. You would have shot me if you could have seeen my protests, but there was nil I could do, just like always with this guy. Last accident he slid undder a truck at a stoplight after attempting a wheelie out of a parking lot into traffic. He should have BY LAW been forced to ride a 250 for at least a year.
How come all the Harley riders I know regularly stop for a few beers after a ride, and the sport bikers I know don't? What is the deciding factor? Why the usual outlaw garb? Why throw your life away unnecessarily in one of your first curves? I see it regularly on emergency accident calls on the curvy coast.
Better rider education. Smaller starter bikes. Stress protective gear. Educate novices about how vulnerable we all are, and that protective gear is great in a slide, but nothing will help in an impact except the luck of the draw.

[DJ Down Under]

14 deaths...geees...I wonder how many almost deaths...or falls and crashes...you would think that about 1 in 50 would die in a crash...just guessing.

DJ

[DarthRider]

We heard here at work from some of our guys who were at Daytona that the death toll climed to 19 by mid-day Sunday. This is not confirmed...it was biker street talk but likely true.

Dave

[fnfalman]

Statistically speaking, 18 deaths out of thousands of bikers showing up isn't all that bad.

Personally speaking, idiots need to die off. Unfortunately the old idiots already sprouted offsprings.

[Arby]

Our local paper here in Melbourne FL, 100 miles south of Daytona, put the number at 18, including surrounding counties.

IMHO, if being an idiot was reason to die, a lot of us would've died a half dozen times by now, including me.

The most vunerable looking biker I saw all weekend was a young chubby girl riding a CBR600. She had on a tank top , tight jeans and gym shoes.

She had ridden over from Tampa dressed like that, and while the guys she was with went to the races,she and a girl friend were heading to the beach.

A friend of mine has a second home just off 17-92 (between where the track is located and the beach) and we had stopped in to say hey.

Her CBR 600 quits on her and they push it off of 17-92 around the corner almost in front of my buddies house.

There's about 20 bikes parked in the yard so the girl(s) come over and ask for help.

When we decide that the stator is toast, we ask about who she can call. She says she has no one. She's already called her boyfriend at the track and he says "What da ya expect me to do?

So we charge her battery, find out where the closest Honda dealer is for her and get the 600 fired up and heading out of the driveway.

I tell her not to waste time as her battery will just go dead again and also to get a new boyfriend, the one she has is useless. Bobbie, my buddies wife, gives her her cell number to call if she doesn't make it to the Honda dealer.

These girls weren't much older than my granddaughters, and are about the age of my friends daughter.

I know all of us that helped these girls felt like we were turning them out among the wolves, but they were adults and determined to do their own thing.

Far as I know, they never called my friends cell.

I guess the point here is it's not all bad-ass biker dudes and dudettes that are coming to Daytona.

Bob

[DarthRider]

"...Personally speaking, idiots need to die off. Unfortunately the old idiots already sprouted offsprings..."

Seems a bit harsh...

Dave

[fnfalman]

Life is tough. I am in no way perfect, but I do try to listen to my betters. However there are those out there who do what they do heedless of their betters. So, a bit of clorine in the gene pool isn't a bad thing. Alas, most of the time these idiots already had passed on their genes before they get killed off.

[Deans BMW]

I have never heard it put better.


a bit of clorine in the gene pool isn't a bad thing

[Arby]

FYI, our local paper just put the final tally at 20. One died while in the hospital, and another motorcycle fatality had not been listed previously.

Bob