A man was killed and woman was knocked unconscious when their motorcycle struck a moose on the Glenn Highway Tuesday night. Alaska State Troopers say motorcycle collisions involving moose are not all that rare.
Troopers reported 29-year-old Ryan E. Beachy of Sutton, a small community in the Mat-Su Borough north of Anchorage, died Tuesday night in the crash. Troopers suspect Beachy, who collided with the moose at Mile 92.5 of the highway, was the driver. The suspected passenger, 25-year-old Tracy L. Bushnell of Indian, suffered serious injuries and remained unconscious the entire time responders were on scene, troopers reported.
A Life Med helicopter transported Bushnell to an Anchorage hospital, where she is listed as stable but in critical condition.
Passers-by and emergency responders attempted to resuscitate Beachy, but he succumbed to serious injuries, troopers reported. The driver was not wearing a helmet while his passenger was wearing protective headgear. Troopers say Beachy would have had a greater chance of survival if he was wearing a helmet.
"The female has life-threatening injuries and she was wearing a helmet," said troopers' spokeswoman Megan Peters. Bushnell's helmet was knocked off during the collision. Helmets are only required in Alaska for riders younger than 18.
From 1977 to 2006, there were nearly 15,000 moose-vehicle collisions in the state, according to the Alaska Highway Safety Office. Only 0.2 percent (or 29) of them ended with fatalities. Some 2 percent (or 218) of the crashes resulted in major injuries, while 15 percent (or 2,192) of the crashes caused minor injuries. About 12,000 remaining crashes only caused property damage.
But Department of Corrections Commissioner Joe Schmidt told a crowd of bikers at the 10th annual Bike Blessing and Ride earlier this year that 80 percent of Alaska's motorcycle accidents are fatal. And last year, there were four moose-vehicle fatalities, three of them involving motorcycles, KYUR reported. As a result, the Alaska Moose Federation -- an nonprofit that runs a handful of moose-related programs, such as helping public safety agencies remove dead moose from roadways -- teamed with the House of Harley for the Moose Off the Bikes initiative in April. A fund raiser was part of that effort, and the money was funneled toward motorcycle safety classes and enhanced moose habitat.
Investigators determined Beachy's bike was traveling south on the highway when a moose entered the roadway. The front of the motorcycle struck the animal, ejecting the two occupants. Two off-duty firemen and a doctor discovered the wreckage and attempted to save Beachy and Bushnell, trying CPR on both riders for at least 20 minutes before responders arrived, Peters said.
The moose was killed on impact, and its remains were donated to a charity, troopers reported.
Motorcycles crashing into the largest member of the deer family, weighing up to 1,600 pounds, is "not really that rare," troopers say. They see similar crashes a couple of times each summer, and they suspect they'd see more if many motorcyclists were out in cold-weather months.
Motorcyclists have inundated the state's scenic byways over the past couple weeks, as the sudden emergence of summer brought bikes out of storage. The state is home to multiple motorcycle clubs -- Alaska Vets, Green Knights and Rig Riders -- and there are more registered motorcycles per capita in Alaska than any other state.
Contact Jerzy Shedlock at jerzy(at)alaskadispatch.com