Grim start to Biketoberfest: 4 dead, 2 hurt

[PeteSC]

Grim start to Biketoberfest: 4 dead, 2 hurt in Daytona area

Erin Ailworth & Robert Perez
Orlando Sentinel
Posted October 20 2005, 4:22 PM EDT

 
OSTEEN -- Minutes into the first day of Biketoberfest, three people riding motorcycles lay crumpled and dead early this morning on a darkened road in rural southwest Volusia County.

One wiped out after hitting a dog wandering State Road 415 just north of Deltona. The other two -- one of whom was a passenger on that bike -- had rushed to help the fallen biker when two cars barreled into the group, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

  A fourth person was critically injured and later died at Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach. A fifth was treated and released.

The horrific chain of events took less than a minute, troopers said early today as they examined the scene by flashlight.

"Welcome to Biketoberfest," an FHP officer at the crash site said grimly.

Law enforcement officials say they dread tourist-heavy events such as Biketoberfest, which will bring an estimated 100,000 visitors roaring into Daytona Beach this weekend, because tragedies on the road are common. Last year, three bikers died in Volusia in the days leading up to Biketoberfest, and seven were killed during the longer Bike Week this spring.

But even by those standards, this latest accident was especially horrendous.

The chaos began just before midnight Wednesday when a Honda motorcycle heading south on the two-lane road slammed into a shaggy black dog that troopers said had no collar.

A Harley-Davidson believed to be traveling with the Honda bike skidded down the asphalt on its side, and another biker and his female passenger stopped to provide first aid and direct traffic.

The situation turned deadly when two Honda Civics that were following each other from Daytona Beach to Deltona unwittingly plowed into the earlier wreck, killing the 44-year-old Honda motorcycle driver, his 36-year-old wife who had been riding with him and the 47-year-old female passenger from the motorcycle that stopped to help. The driver of the Harley-Davidson was taken to the hospital in critical condition.

Killed were Karen Murgo, a 46-year-old Seminole County school teacher; 56-year-old David Gheen, of Oyster Creek, Texas; his 36-year-old daughter Jacqueline Redrick and her 44-year-old husband Steven Redrick, both of Winter Springs. A driver of one of the cars was treated for minor injuries and released.

FHP troopers think the 25-year-old male driver of the first Civic, who had minor injuries, was distracted by the person directing traffic. The 24-year-old female driver of the second Civic was not injured. It was not clear whether her car struck anyone.

Traveling through the heart of Volusia's rural interior, S.R. 415 connects northern Seminole County and the Daytona Beach area. It's an especially popular route during biker events, offering an alternative to Interstate 4. The road is lit only by moonlight and is lined with a few, far-from-the-road homes, as well as heavy brush and trees.

Troopers say many cars and motorcycles far exceed the 55 mph speed limit, but the two Civics were not speeding.

"I've been doing this 32 years and it's worse every year," FHP Cpl. Dwight Wiles said this morning while trying to piece together details of the accidents. "I've worked many a homicide on this road."

This was not the first time good Samaritans who stopped at a crash have become victims.

In early December, Christopher Frattin, 21, his 17-year-old girlfriend Constance Samuals, and Daniel Truelove, 22, were killed after stopping on the side of Interstate 95 to help an accident victim. The trio died when Margaret Casto, of New Smyrna Beach, failed to slow down near the accident and swerved into another car before flipping into the air, investigators said. Casto later was sentenced to 60 days in jail and six months' probation for driving on a suspended license. She also was required to serve 120 hours of community service, pay a $500 fine and have her licensed revoked for five years.

In 2002, Oveido firefighter Shane Kelly and a Winter Park obstetrician N. Donald Diebel Jr. were killed when a tractor-trailer plowed into a median where they had stopped to help people inside an overturned vehicle. Several other good Samaritans were injured. In May, trucker Robert Lee Jackson Jr. was found not guilty of manslaughter by culpable negligence and other charges. He leased the truck that killed Kelly and Diebel. However, it was unclear if Jackson was driving the truck at the time of the accident.

Standing amid the carnage on S.R. 415 early this morning, FHP Cpl. Mark Kuczynski warned that motorists who stop to help out at an accident need to be aware they are putting themselves in a dangerous situation, especially if they are in the roadway. Don't do it, he pleaded.