Motorcyclist killed in collision with semi on U.S. 2
Published 11:49 pm Saturday, April 12, 2008
SNOHOMISH — The first warm day of the year turned deadly for a Gold Bar motorcyclist after he smashed head-on into the side of a fuel tanker truck on U.S. 2 north of Snohomish.
James Berninger, 65, went for a ride with two of his buddies at the beginning of motorcycle season Saturday afternoon.
He died in the back of an ambulance at the scene of the crash, fire officials said. Another one of the riders, a Sultan man, 63, was involved in the accident and suffered minor injuries. The third rider, a Monroe man, wasn’t involved in the crash.
Dozens of motorcyclists streamed by the wreckage scattered along the highway as Washington State Patrol troopers investigated the crash. The highway was closed just east of Highway 9 for a couple hours.
“It’s the first nice day. We expect a lot more motorcycles out on the roads. The biggest thing is we want them to slow down and make sure they’re capable of operating the bike within their means,” State Patrol Sgt. Jason Armstrong said. “Unfortunately, this is an example of what can happen.”
Also on Saturday, in a separate accident, a Leavenworth motorcyclist was taken by helicopter to a Seattle hospital after he was thrown from his bike. The crash happened just after midnight on U.S. 2 west of Index. The man reportedly was forced to swerve off the road when a car crossed the center line into his lane of travel, according to the State Patrol. An update of his condition wasn’t available Saturday night.
While motorcycle fatalities dropped in 2007 from the previous year, the State Patrol has seen more fatal crashes this year compared with the same time last year.
Just before Saturday’s fatal crash, the three motorcyclists had just stopped for gas at a station on Highway 9. They started heading onto the onramp of U.S. 2 when the accident occurred. Witnesses told troopers that Berninger tried to pass his friend but his back tire clipped the front tire of the Sultan man’s motorcycle, Armstrong said. He rode over a grass strip at the bottom of the onramp, lost control and crossed the center line, striking a westbound tanker truck, Armstrong said.
The motorcycle hit the wheel axle. The step to the cab was ripped away from the truck, a spare tire behind the cab was slashed and the wheel at the drive axle was damaged enough to pull it off its bent rim.
Berninger’s leg was severed and he suffered other injuries, Snohomish County Fire District 4 Battalion Chief Mike Gatterman said. The Sultan man, whom Berninger attempted to pass, appears to have laid down his motorcycle at the bottom of the onramp. He didn’t hit the truck. The Sultan man was taken to Providence Everett Medical Center with minor injuries, Gatterman said.
The truck driver was not hurt. He was shaken and spoke for a while with a fire chaplain.
Last year, the state launched an awareness campaign, including television commercials, to address an increase in motorcycle fatalities. The spike was pinned to a rise in the popularity of motorcycles as gas prices climbed. The 2006 report also found that the increase in fatalities was linked to a lack of trained motorcyclists.
More than one-third of the motorcycle riders killed in Washington between 1993 and 2004 didn’t have a proper driver’s license, the state found. And 86 percent of those who died didn’t take the state’s safe riding classes.
The report also found that the primary causes of fatal motorcycle crashes are an inability to control the motorcycle, speed and alcohol.
Troopers don’t believe alcohol was a factor in Saturday’s crash.
“These guys were just out for a ride,” Armstrong said.
Reporter Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463 or hefley@heraldnet.com.
