Friends have identified 67-year-old Clayton Latimer as the motorcyclist killed following a crash in northeast Calgary on Saturday.
“He was always happy, cheery, he was a great guy who would do anything for anybody,” Latimer’s longtime friend Jeanna Dobson said as she wiped away tears.
“He loved riding his bike.”
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At around 4:30 p.m., police responded to a collision between a vehicle and a motorcycle on 68 Street and 22 Avenue N.E.
Investigators said the motorcycle was travelling south on 68 Street when it collided with a Honda Civic as it turned left onto 22 Avenue.
Police believe the driver of the Civic made the turn in front of the motorcycle.
Latimer was rushed to the Foothills Medical Centre in serious condition with multiple traumatic injuries. He died from his injuries on Sunday morning.
“I know too many people that died on motorbikes and people just don’t pay attention,” Dobson said.
Calgary-based organization One Broken Biker, which helps injured riders and their families, is grappling with the number of crashes they’ve seen so far this season.
“We’re not used to this many, this quickly,” One Broken Biker founder Ashlee Atkins said. “Later on in the season things start happening, but now, right as it got sunny, it was accident after accident.”
The organization is also concerned with the number of crashes involving drivers making left turns.
“That kind of accident is most common when it comes to bike accidents,” Atkins said. “It’s just one of those things that, it’s a lapse in judgement or maybe they don’t see them.”
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According to Calgary police, the crash that killed Latimer is one of at least 17 collisions involving motorcycles so far this year, with the majority of those crashes taking place in the last six weeks.
“Certainly this time of year, motorcyclists are new on the street and being smaller vehicles, they can be missed,” Sgt. Dale Seddon said. “One thing we really want to impress upon motorcyclists is to try and make eye contact with other drivers.”
Police do not believe speed or alcohol were factors in the crash that killed Latimer. So far no charges have been laid.