Waynesboro man is 3rd motorcyclist killed by a CSRA crash in 5 days
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - A man is dead after an accident involving a tractor-trailer and motorcycle.
Richmond County deputies responded to a traffic fatality that occurred on I-520 west of Doug Barnard Parkway around 5:43 p.m.
Deputies say a motorcycle collided with a tractor-trailer. The motorcyclist, identified as 46-year-old David Mark Auvenshine II of Waynesboro, was pronounced dead at the scene.
The past week has been a deadly one for motorcyclists in the CSRA.
On Sunday evening, the rider of a dirt bike died after a collision with a pickup in Aiken County just south of Langley Pond at Carline Road around 6:20 p.m. Sunday. He was identified as 53-year-old Danny W. Wyatt, of Warrenville.
And on Thursday, motorcyclist Jacob Colin Patterson, 26, of Marengo, Ill., died at the scene of a 7:14 a.m. crash in the 3600 block of Wrightsboro Road at Belair Road in Augusta. The crash didn’t involve any other vehicles.
The crashes come as Georgia drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists are facing increasingly dangerous roads. And across the Savannah River, South Carolina just set a four-decade high in motorcycle fatalities.
A report from the U.S. Department of Transportation finds fatalities rose 12% from 2020 to 2021 nationwide. This is the largest increase ever recorded since the department began tracking rates in the 1970s.
Georgia’s fatality rate was just over the national average at 12.2%.
What’s to blame?
“When we look at the statistics, nine times out of 10, it is driver behavior,” said Natalie Dale with the Georgia Department of Transportation.
Driver behavior has grown increasingly worse during the pandemic. Dale said law enforcement has reported higher speeds on state roads.
Dale also said most problems stemmed from lane departures, when a driver may shift into a lane or off a road, due to distracted driving.
“In order for us to get to a place where we’re decreasing in fatalities, it has to be a partnership with both us designing safe roads and taking into account the multiple users of our roads – whether it’s motorists, pedestrians, bicycles – that we all take responsibility for safety,” said Dale.
Meanwhile, South Carolina reports there were more deaths on motorcycles in 2021 than any year in the past four decades.
Officials say 154 motorcyclists died in crashes last year, up 9% from the number of deaths reported in 2020.
It was the most deaths since 1980.
South Carolina law only requires motorcycle drivers under 21 wear helmets, but state troopers said it is one of the key ways to stay safe.
Troopers also say motorcyclists need to be vigilant and drive defensively.
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