1 killed, 3 hurt in funeral procession crash

[HokieDNA01]

unable to stop in time and their drivers had to lay down their bikes.

I here that all the time.

[anthonyk]

Reminds me of the dump truck story. "...when their bikes crashed." Leave it till later to mention that a car driving into the procession is what caused the wrecks in the first place.

[pauldun170]

Originally Posted by HokieDNA01

unable to stop in time and their drivers had to lay down their bikes.

I here that all the time.

You'd think that the officer would actually just say what happened.
"Their drivers lost control and crashed"

[Particle Man]

The bikes were in the back of the line - the cars that were part of the procession slowed down because a car in front of the procession slowed down to turn into a driveway (the car didn't cut in front of the procession, it was going the same direction).

Originally Posted by Dave

im guessing the funeral peeps were blowing a red?

I went to elementary school in that area - there are almost no stoplights dude (hell, there were NONE when I was a kid and there's probably STILL none )

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Leyden,_New_York

Map:

http://www.satelliteviews.net/cgi-bi...NY&ftype=civil

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From the local paper here:

By COURTNEY POTTS
Observer-Dispatch
Posted Apr 20, 2010 @ 02:53 PM
Last update Apr 21, 2010 @ 06:12 PM
LEYDEN — An accident involving a funeral procession in Lewis County Tuesday resulted in the death of a Boonville man who was among the mourners, according to the Lewis County Sheriff's Office.

Terrence O'Rourke, 63, was riding his motorcycle in a procession for 78-year-old Mary Rhone of Port Leyden on state Route 12 when an uninvolved car traveling northbound in front of the procession slowed to make a left turn at 1:57 p.m., deputies said.

The procession – led by a vehicle from the Trainor Funeral Home in Boonville – stopped quickly as a result of the turning vehicle, and O'Rourke and several other motorcyclists who could not stop in time had to lay their motorcycles down to avoid crashing into the vehicles in front of them, deputies said.

O'Rourke, who was operating a 2009 Harley Davidson, suffered head injuries in the process and later was pronounced dead at St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Utica, deputies said.

Lewis County Sheriff’s Sgt. Richard Knight said O’Rourke was wearing a half-shell helmet at the time of the accident and is believed to have been traveling at a slow rate of speed – making the severity of his injuries unusual.

“The three bikes laid themselves down and then the deceased ended up hitting his head on either the ground or the guard rail, we’re not 100 percent sure,” Knight said.

Two other motorcyclists and one passenger — 32-year old Dodie Makuch, 56-year-old Dennis Fruin and 52-year-old Barbara Fruin, all of Boonville — were treated at St. Elizabeth and at St. Luke's campus of Faxton-St. Luke's Healthcare for injuries that weren’t life-threatening, deputies said.

According to an obituary, the Fruins are the son and daughter-in-law of the late Rhone, and Makuch is one of her grandchildren.

Knight did not know how O’Rourke knew Rhone’s family, but said he does not have any known relatives in the area.

The accident happened near the village of Port Leyden and shut down a portion of Route 12 between the village and the Oneida County line for several hours. Several fire departments and the state police Accident Reconstruction Team from Oneida were among the agencies that also responded.

According to Rhone’s obituary, the procession would have been traveling from the 1 p.m. service at the funeral home to the interment at Pennysettlement Cemetery in Lyonsdale at the time of the accident.

Funeral participants remained at the scene until help arrived, and then were given permission to continue to the cemetery, Knight said.

No tickets were issued.

http://www.uticaod.com/news/x5795969...orcycle-victim


And from a local news station:

LEWIS COUNTY, N.Y. -- Sad circumstances out of Lewis County where a motorcyclist was killed Tuesday while riding in a funeral procession. Police say three motorcycles were on the back end of the procession riding down Route 12 in Port Leyden when the cars in front of them suddenly hit their brakes.

"They stopped or had to slow down for a vehicle that was turning left into a driveway, as much as we've been able to determine preliminarily. And one motorcycle began to not be able to stop in time and had to lay down its motorcycle and two more did in succession and as a result of that crash, four people were injured and taken to local hospitals," said Leanne Moser, Lewis County District Attorney and Coroner.

Three of those people suffered non-life threatening injuries. However, Terrance Orourke, 63, of Boonville, passed away.

A reconstruction team from the State Police was brought to further investigate the crash.

http://watertown.ynn.com/content/top...n-port-leyden/