Man died Instantly in Motorcycle accident

AKA was right...

"...Those bloody roads in Tampa are crazy! It sounds as tho he was accordionned and died instantly, which is a small blessing I guess...His poor mother for Mother's Day..."

Yes, he most certainly did die instantly and I thought the same thing...small blessing. I mentioned in the other post that he wasn't wearing a helmet but in this case, I don't think that it would have made a bit of difference. (Jason R. DeMarzian, 25, of Bradenton was the man involved, he was chasing after a man who had just robbed a woman. The thief got away, Mr. DeMarzian died.)

Then, all the way back to Atlanta, I kept seeing people on motorcycles which would bring it all back to me...and I kept think about the poor mother who lost her son right before Mother's Day.

Right after the wreck, when we got on the interstate, I saw a young couple riding a bike with no helmets, no leathers...nothing. They were dressed like they were in Florida, no sleeves, shorts...any kind of a wreck at that speed would have killed them both.

Another thing AKA was right about...those roads in Tampa ARE crazy! My father has been driving for over 50 years and he had never seen a fatal wreck. But, since he's been living in Tampa, he's seen 4 on Hillsborough Road.

After we left the accident scene, we discussed what must have happened. My dad had been looking at the wreck itself while I was checking out the poor guy on the street. My complete focus was on him so I didn't notice that the vehicles had burned, at least one of them did. There had been quite a fire, the SUV was charred black and the bike was basically welded to the SUV. There was white foam all over the place as though someone had a fire extinguisher and used it. As I said, I didn't notice any of that...but my father did and he said that either the SUV turned in front of the bike or the bike guy just wasn't watching where he was going. And obviously, he had been going too fast because of the way the bike was stuck in the SUV.

I put a bike down once and that was the last time I ever rode one. Of course I was quite young, I wouldn't have done it once I turned 30 or so. But in that little wreck, I just suffered a concusion (I was wearing a helmet but I didn't snap it because I was just going to a store a block away). That helmet surely saved my life. I also had a bunch of road rash which hurts like a son of a bitch but that's all, I suffered no permanent damage. I think that accident was a good thing, I never got on a bike again after that. If you had seen that young man yesterday, you wouldn't ride one either.

I almost wish that I could have taken pictures of the guy and the wreck to show people what can happen to a young man out riding a bike in the middle of a day on a road with a speed limit of 45. Before that split second, the young man was probably planning his weekend or just thinking about what he was going to do yesterday, just like all of us. Then, out of nowhere...BANG... life is over and a family lost a young man forever.

You know how after you've been in even a small wreck you wish that you could go back and change one little thing so that the wreck wouldn't have happened? That kid didn't even get a chance to do that but I'm sure his mother is wondering what she could have done differently. So, do yourself a favor, pay more attention when you're driving so you don't have to wish for a second chance to avoid a wreck.

I just found a link to the newspaper article regarding the wreck...you can tell by the picture that they had moved the vehicles off of the street, they weren't like they are in the picture yesterday and my father said that in this picture, you can't see the side of the SUV that was charred. Also, the article explains that they guy was chasing a thief when he wrecked:

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/may/07/hillsborough-deputies-1-dies-vehicle-motorcycle-cr/

Notice the comments at the bottom that mention how many fatalities there have been recently on that road. My father said the cops don't patrol it at all and THAT'S why the people drive so recklessly...they know they can get away with it. But as you can see, that kid was trying to help another person and lost his life for it.

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Here is another article about the wreck that I found after I had written this post:

Motorcyclist dies chasing thief

TOWN 'N COUNTRY -- A motorcyclist died today chasing a thief who stole a woman's prescription drugs, Hillsborough County Sheriff's officials said.

At 1:30 p.m., a woman came out of a pharmacy at W Hillsborough Avenue and Town and Country Boulevard when a man grabbed her prescription pills and jumped into the passenger seat of a tan Honda sedan with tinted windows.

While the car was in the parking lot, a witness jumped through the rear window of the car, trying to stop it. But the car took off, swiping another vehicle and knocking the witness off the car.

Another witness jumped on his motorcycle and chased the car westbound on Hillsborough Avenue. But he died when his bike collided with a Ford Explorer leaving the driveway.
The Sheriff's Office identified the motorcyclist as Jason R. DeMarzian, 25, of Bradenton.

The suspected thief is described as a 6-foot-2, about 175-pound white man in his 20s or 30s with a beard who wore a blue dress shirt, jeans and blue hat. The Honda had tinted windows and no tags.

More details to come.

--By Justin George, Times staff writer