Austin 'Motorcycle Versus Car' Collision Sends Biker To The Hospital

SOUTH AUSTIN, TX -- Yet another collision involving a motorcycle has occurred on Austin roadways, the latest on South Pleasant valley in the southeast part of the city.

Austin-Travis County EMS officials reported the latest collision happened Sunday just before 11 a.m. Dubbed “car v mc” in the local EMS parlance -- car versus motorcycle -- the 40 mph crash resulted in a male in his 20s being transported to University Medical Center-Brackenridge with serious injuries.

There were no other injuries, and the motorcyclist is expected to survive.

But others haven’t been as fortunate, as several motorcyclists have died after making impact with cars.

As if to provide grim emphasis on the growing problem, the past year ended with such a deadly scenario. Worse, the fatality yielded an important footnote to the annals of recorded local history as police keep a running tally of road deaths -- the 100th road fatality of 2015.

A motorcyclist was killed on Dec. 30 following a North Austin crash, according to Austin-Travis County EMS.

Medics arrived to the 2700 block of Steck Avenue near Burnet at the scene of that crash at 7:30 p.m. to see an all too familiar sight: The deadly aftermath of another “car versus motorcyle” crash.

More often than not, the motorcyclist in such traffic accident is on the losing side. It was in that case as well, as a man in his 20s perished.

Just over three weeks before that crash, another man in his 20s died in North Austin when his bike came into contact with a car. The crash happened at Klettenhoff Drive and Wells Port Drive at about 11 a.m., EMS officials said.

The deadly trend shows no signs of letting up.

As the new year was just beginning, EMS responded to Northwest Austin where another motorcyclist in his 20s died, along with a 50-year-old man in another vehicle.

And just last week, two accidents involving motorcycles within an hour of each other left a motorcyclist in his 50s dead.

St. Valentine’s Day this year was a bloody one for EMS officials, as two motorcyclists die overnight in separate accidents occurring within half an hour of each other. The wrecks left a 45-year-old man and another in his 30s dead.

And just last week, a pair of car-motorcycle collisions occurring within an hour of each other resulted in the death of a motorcyclist in his 50s.

It’s a rare occurrence to survive a motorcycle crash involving another vehicle, especially in high-speed impacts. One such survivor urged his fellow bikers to wear protective gear at all times to diminish the chances of dying on the roadway.

There’s a saying among motorcyclists as it relates to wearing such gear -- one dresses for the crash, not for the ride. That mantra is made more urgent given the prevalence of inattentive drivers -- some of them texting or using their phones while on the road -- who aren’t paying attention to the road.

By the time they do, it’s often too late to avoid hitting a motorcyclist in their path.

“The roads are getting worse and people are always in a rush to get to places. They’re not double-checking their blind sides,” Roy Alafa told a local television station.

Alafa is painfully aware of such driver inattention. Last month, he was hit while riding south on Interstate 35 as he tried switching lanes -- instead finding himself flying off his bike.

“He actually threw me up against the concrete barrier,” Alafa recalled of the accident that left him with a shattered hip and other injuries. “It smashed me up pretty well. I was pretty much sandwiched in-between the vehicle and concrete barrier.”

Yet he lived to tell the tale -- a privilege not everyone is granted.

Protective gear may provide the only line of defense for a motorcyclist involved in a collision.

“Well you need the helmet, gloves, jacket and maybe boots,” a motorcycle salesman in South Austin told the television station.

It might be expensive to get, but such gear may very well save a motorcyclist’s life which would make it more than worth the cost. A crashed bike can be fixed or replaced, but death is forever.