Motorcyclist killed in crash on State Road 44 /FL

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Motorcyclist killed in crash on State Road 44
 
 
04/04/05
AMANDA KOONCE
Staff Writer
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PAISLEY — A man and his 18-year-old son were riding motorcycles on State Road 44 near Paisley Sunday evening when the father swerved into oncoming traffic and was killed.

According to Florida Highway Patrol Sgt. Jorge Delahoz, it was around 8 p.m. when Robert Leroy Barth Jr., 39, of Eustis was driving his møotorcycle west on S.R. 44 near Benton Drive.

Barth looked over his right shoulder to make sure his son was still following and swerved into the path of two oncoming vehicles. He was flung from his 2000 Harley-Davidson motorcycle when it struck an oncoming Ford pickup.

The motorcycle then proceeded into the path of a Dodge minivan and burst into flames upon crashing.

Delahoz said the driver of the pickup, Mary Lois Quinn of Paisley, drove off the road in order to miss Barth. None of the occupants of the pickup or the minivan were injured in the crash.

Barth was pronounced dead at the scene by rescuers with Lake-Sumter Emergency Medical Service and Lake County Fire Rescue. He had been a heavy equipment operator with Lake County for 11 years.

Delahoz said that while motorcycles make up a small percentage of vehicles on the road in Lake County — less than 3 percent. But of the 18 fatal crashes this year, seven involved motorcycles, and all seven drivers died.

“That is just over one-third of all the fatal crashes,” Delahoz said, “three times higher than the 9 percent national average of fatal crashes involving motorcycles. That should demonstrate the inherent danger of operating a motorcycle.”

Of the seven fatal motorcycle crashes this year, the motorcycle driver was at fault in five, he said.

According to statistics provided by the Florida Highway Patrol, motorcyclists are about 16 times more likely to die in crashes than occupants of passenger cars.

The state agency looks to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for further evidence that shows 3,661 motorcyclists killed in crashes in 2003. It was the sixth consecutive year showing a rise in motorcycle deaths.

In 2003, motorcyclists accounted for nine percent of total traffic fatalities and 10 percent of occupant fatalities, NHTSA reports.