The death toll at Sturgis set a record by one over the weekend. Officials began keeping track from the 75th Sturgis Rally statistics Tuesday, July 28  up to 6 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 8.

The numbers are 12 fatal crashes, 140 crashes that causes injuries and 74 non injury crashes. Compared to last year, the gathering produced only 3 deaths and 63 crashes.

The fatality list released from officials are-

  • Sturgis had its first fatal crash Friday, July 31, when Gregory Bullard, 45, Fort Collins, Colo., was killed in a one-bike crash on U.S. Highway 14A, about a mile south of Lead.
  • William Carter, 65 of Seville, Ohio, was riding in Vanocker Canyon Saturday, Aug. 1, when he failed to negotiate a curve south of Galena Road.
  • A chain-reaction crash Sunday, Aug. 2, involving bikes and cars killed Rhonda Denato of Ottumwa, Iowa. The crash was on Interstate 90, west of Murdo.
  • Sunday, Aug. 2, a collision on Highway 44 with a horse trailer being pulled by pickup killed 51-year-old biker Brian Ware of Seattle.
  • Sunday, Aug. 2, Archie Smith, 73, Kansas City, crashed his 1959 Corvette into a cable guard on I-90 at mile marker 71. While not a biker death, since the crash happened during the Sturgis rally it is counted in the data.
  • Monday, Aug. 3, the first official day of the rally, 47-year-old Todd Hay of Deland, Fla., died after his bike left Sherman Street in Sturgis and struck a fence post outside a house.
  • Monday, Aug. 3, Rose Ann Richard, 63, Belfield, N.D., died from injuries sustained in a crash Saturday on Interstate 90, west of Sturgis. She was on a motorcycle hit by 19-year-old Nickolas Hartwell of Rapid City. Hartwell was arrested and charged with driving under the influence, zero tolerance and reckless driving.
  • Monday, Aug. 3, on South Dakota Highway 87 in Custer State Park, John Rowlett, Jr., 42, Wichita, Kans., was killed when he lost control of his motorcycle, went into a ditch and hit a rock.
  • Tuesday, Aug. 4, Highway 385 near Sheridan Lake Road. Destiny Smith, 31, Glendale, Ariz., was killed when the rider of the motorcycle she was a passenger on lost control. Smith was thrown onto the road and hit by another motorcycle.
  • A Wisconsin biker died Wednesday, Aug. 5, due to injuries sustained in a crash Saturday, just east of Sturgis on Interstate 90. Keith Reed, 57, West Allis, Wisc., crashed into the back of another bike that slowed when a driver lost control of his car.
  • Friday, Aug. 7, Douglas Kellar, 56 of Adams, N.Y., tried to avoid a car turning in front of him onto Sturgis Road. He was thrown from his bike and hit the car.
  • Friday, Aug. 7, on SD 244, five miles west of Mount Rushmore, a motorcycle rider lost control of his bike on a gradual curve, went off the road and hit a rock outcropping. His name is being withheld pending notification of his family.

The old record was set in 1990 during the 50th anniversary gathering. 11 bikers were killed for that golden anniversary.

 

Staff
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