burns
05-20-2006, 10:34 AM
South Carolina - The spring Harley rally claimed another life Thursday evening.
A man on a motorcycle with Tennessee license plates died after he and a female passenger collided at about 8:40 p.m. with a black Jeep Cherokee in front of the CVS drugstore at the intersection of North Kings Highway and 67th Avenue North.
The couple was transported to Grand Strand Regional Medical Center, where the man was pronounced dead.
The woman had leg injuries, said Myrtle Beach police Capt. David Knipes, and was conscious at the hospital.
"I think she's going to be OK," Knipes said.
The driver of the Jeep was uninjured, Knipes said.
The Jeep, northbound on Kings Highway, was turning west onto 67th Avenue when it collided with the motorcycle, which was traveling south on Kings Highway.
After the crash, southbound traffic on Kings Highway was diverted onto 67th Avenue North, Knipes said.
A vehicle-crash reconstruction team from S.C. Highway Patrol worked Thursday night to piece together what happened.
In other news, Thursday was the first day of the one-way, southbound traffic pattern on Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach, and a lot of Harley rally participants were not pleased.
Business owners and employees had mixed feelings about the traffic chute.
Several bikers said they think the pattern would cause more traffic problems and create safety issues for bikers.
"It causes problems with bikers making right turns down the side streets," said Chuck Miller, who was near 17th Avenue South Thursday with his wife, Wendy Miller.
The traffic pattern is a result of a settlement in a federal discrimination lawsuit filed against the city of Myrtle Beach by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
Traffic will flow one-way southbound from 2 p.m. to midnight through Saturday.
The NAACP filed the lawsuit against the city in 2003, accusing the city of discriminating against the predominately black Atlantic Beach Bikefest participants by enforcing a one-way pattern during that event, but not during the Harley rally. City officials said the pattern was necessary because of the size of Bikefest crowds.
According to Myrtle Beach spokesman Mark Kruea, the traffic pattern is going smoothly.
Mark Morehead, an employee at the Sportsman Motor Inn on 14th Avenue South, said it makes it hard for employees to get back and forth to work.
Phillis Meryamos, owner of Dino's Pizza & Grill on 13th Avenue South, said she likes the chute because she says it calms the noise down with bikes. She said it's too early to say what effect it will have on her business. "Hopefully, our business won't suffer," Meryamos said.
As there have been six bike-related fatalities since Saturday along the Grand Strand, area law enforcement officials are urging safety during both bike rallies.
"That's far too many," said Maj. Melvin Howard of the S.C. Highway Patrol. "We're very concerned about safety."
The fatalities all have one thing in common, Howard said: They were preventable. According to law officials, the fatalities were all the result of failure-to-yield violations.
Officers with the state Highway Patrol, Myrtle Beach Police Department, Horry County Police Department, and Gene Lummus, president of the Carolina Harley-Davidson Dealers Association, held a news conference Thursday asking bikers and other motorists to pay attention and look out for one another on the roads.
"Please obey the law, don't drink and drive, and keep the noise down," said Lummus in front of the Hard Rock Cafe at roadway at the Beach. "Let's make a good memory and not a bad memory."
A man on a motorcycle with Tennessee license plates died after he and a female passenger collided at about 8:40 p.m. with a black Jeep Cherokee in front of the CVS drugstore at the intersection of North Kings Highway and 67th Avenue North.
The couple was transported to Grand Strand Regional Medical Center, where the man was pronounced dead.
The woman had leg injuries, said Myrtle Beach police Capt. David Knipes, and was conscious at the hospital.
"I think she's going to be OK," Knipes said.
The driver of the Jeep was uninjured, Knipes said.
The Jeep, northbound on Kings Highway, was turning west onto 67th Avenue when it collided with the motorcycle, which was traveling south on Kings Highway.
After the crash, southbound traffic on Kings Highway was diverted onto 67th Avenue North, Knipes said.
A vehicle-crash reconstruction team from S.C. Highway Patrol worked Thursday night to piece together what happened.
In other news, Thursday was the first day of the one-way, southbound traffic pattern on Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach, and a lot of Harley rally participants were not pleased.
Business owners and employees had mixed feelings about the traffic chute.
Several bikers said they think the pattern would cause more traffic problems and create safety issues for bikers.
"It causes problems with bikers making right turns down the side streets," said Chuck Miller, who was near 17th Avenue South Thursday with his wife, Wendy Miller.
The traffic pattern is a result of a settlement in a federal discrimination lawsuit filed against the city of Myrtle Beach by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
Traffic will flow one-way southbound from 2 p.m. to midnight through Saturday.
The NAACP filed the lawsuit against the city in 2003, accusing the city of discriminating against the predominately black Atlantic Beach Bikefest participants by enforcing a one-way pattern during that event, but not during the Harley rally. City officials said the pattern was necessary because of the size of Bikefest crowds.
According to Myrtle Beach spokesman Mark Kruea, the traffic pattern is going smoothly.
Mark Morehead, an employee at the Sportsman Motor Inn on 14th Avenue South, said it makes it hard for employees to get back and forth to work.
Phillis Meryamos, owner of Dino's Pizza & Grill on 13th Avenue South, said she likes the chute because she says it calms the noise down with bikes. She said it's too early to say what effect it will have on her business. "Hopefully, our business won't suffer," Meryamos said.
As there have been six bike-related fatalities since Saturday along the Grand Strand, area law enforcement officials are urging safety during both bike rallies.
"That's far too many," said Maj. Melvin Howard of the S.C. Highway Patrol. "We're very concerned about safety."
The fatalities all have one thing in common, Howard said: They were preventable. According to law officials, the fatalities were all the result of failure-to-yield violations.
Officers with the state Highway Patrol, Myrtle Beach Police Department, Horry County Police Department, and Gene Lummus, president of the Carolina Harley-Davidson Dealers Association, held a news conference Thursday asking bikers and other motorists to pay attention and look out for one another on the roads.
"Please obey the law, don't drink and drive, and keep the noise down," said Lummus in front of the Hard Rock Cafe at roadway at the Beach. "Let's make a good memory and not a bad memory."