Portable toilet falls, kills biker
A Texas man was killed Tuesday in a three-motorcycle accident that was triggered when a portable toilet fell from the trailer of a pickup truck on U.S. Highway 16 north of Custer.
Michael Johnson, 55, of Grand Saline, Texas, and the motorcycle he was driving were struck by the toilet and thrown into the southbound lane, where he was struck by a motorcycle driven by Douglas Powell, 39, of Burlington, Wis., according to South Dakota Highway Patrol Trooper David Berkley.
Trying to avoid the debris in the roadway, a third motorcyclist and his passenger went into a ditch. They are Neil and Veronica Perl of Des Plaines, Ill.
Powell suffered minor injuries and was taken to the Custer hospital. The Illinois couple was taken to Rapid City Regional Hospital with serious injuries, according to Berkley's report.
The driver of the truck, Earl C. Baker, 34, of Custer, was not injured. Charges are pending, Berkley said.
In another accident Monday, a Colorado man died after the motorcycle he was driving collided with another motorcycle on U.S. Highway 14A two miles south of Lead.
The Highway Patrol reported that Michael Charles Arthur, 43, Fort Collins, Colo., died when he was attempting to negotiate a curve and lost control.
His westbound motorcycle collided with an eastbound motorcycle driven by Harold Strauss, 61, Rock Wall, Texas. Strauss was taken by helicopter to Rapid City Regional Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition on Tuesday.
The Lawrence County Sheriff's Office assisted the Highway Patrol at the scene. Neither driver was wearing a helmet.
The fatalities on Monday and Tuesday bring to six the number of motorcyclists killed on western South Dakota roads in the past two weeks.
Topic: What a crappy way to go... (Read 2657 times)