A 33-year-old man is dead after he was thrown from his motorcycle Saturday evening. It marks the ninth fatality of a rider this year and is spurring conversation around increased road and rider safety in the Edmonton community.
A group of motorcyclists were heading northwest on 94 Street near 19 Avenue and the Edmonton Research Development Park. When they came to a curve, a Honda CBR 600 left the road and the rider was thrown off his bike, police said in a news release late Saturday night.
“The rider was then struck by his bike and collided with a tree, while the bike continued on, striking a cement sign in the area,” police said.
EMS responded but the man died on scene. There were no other injuries.
Edmonton police are investigating the collision and believe the rider’s inexperience and speed to be factors.
Marko Palyniak, with the Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride that took place Sunday in Edmonton, said he had his first accident when he was a new rider and really emphasized the importance of bike safety.
“As a motorcycle community in Edmonton it’s actually a pretty tight community and it’s been growing and growing every year… We’re really saddened when we hear the loss of anyone from the community for sure.
“It kind of goes to show you — and this is very important to reinforce — the (importance of) safety aspects of riding: making sure that you’re dressed appropriately for the ride, and ride your own ride, so to speak, so not trying to keep up with someone else that’s more experienced than you.”
The Ride, which included hundreds of Edmonton motorcyclists, is a fundraising event for men’s mental health and prostate cancer awareness.
It’s been a rough start to the year for motorcycle-related accidents, said Liane Langlois, president of the Alberta Motorcycle Safety Society.
“In the province of Alberta our (fatality) count is at nine, and that is quite high for not even the end of May,” she said.
“It’s hard to hear this when the majority of the reasons for these fatalities are within our own community — they’re not even involving other vehicles and drivers. We need to all do better on our roadways.”
There was a second motorcycle collision Saturday evening in Edmonton that was not fatal but did close down part of Groat Road for several hours. Part of the reason we’re seeing so many collisions right now is that more riders are on the road now that it’s spring.
Langlois said May is Motorcycle Awareness Month, a time to welcome riders back onto the streets and let drivers know that motorcyclists are on the roads again for the season.
She said there are elements like debris on the road, and colder pavement that riders also need to be mindful of.
The top three major contributors to accidents are not looking left when turning right at an intersection, following too closely and speeding, Langlois said.
“Every time there is a fatality in our community my heart just goes out to the friends and family that know those riders because that is a loss that is hard to understand — especially in times when it might be rider error it’s even harder to understand.
“We do what we can to educate the general public and hopefully have some impact on lowering those numbers and asking all road users … to look out for each other.”