WARREN - A motorcyclist killed in a double fatality Saturday afternoon may have been traveling more than 90 miles per hour prior to the crash near his home, according to police.
Warren police Detective Mike Stabile said Monday witnesses to the 3:30 p.m. crash estimated 38-year-old Jimmy May of Merriweather Street N.W. was riding about 100 mph on his 2005 Suzuki motorcycle when he crashed into the side of a car driven by 64-year-old Rylin Robinson of Clearwater Street N.W.
Stabile said skid marks at the scene indicate May was traveling at least 50 mph at the point of impact with Robinson's 2008 Chevrolet Malibu. He said the speed limit on Merriweather is 25 mph.
The crash occurred at the intersection of Merriweather and Commerce N.W. as May was riding west on Merriweather and Robinson was heading south on Commerce, a short distance from his home. Stabile said there is a stop sign on Commerce and Robinson "had a duty to stop and yield," but all evidence so far indicates May's speed was a major contributing factor to the crash.
May's motorcycle struck the driver's side of Robinson's door. Robinson was not wearing a seat belt and was pushed onto the passenger side of his car. Stabile said May was wearing a helmet.
He said the crash still is under investigation and he is waiting for readings from the Malibu's computer system to determine how fast Robinson was driving and if he applied the brakes. Stabile said the computer system will provide a reading of the 12 seconds prior to the Malibu's side air bag deployment.
"Maybe he (Robinson) ran the stop sign and figured he could clear the intersection but underestimated how fast the motorcycle was approaching. Or maybe he stopped at the stop sign and proceeded through without even seeing the motorcycle because it was going so fast,'' Stabile said.
He said the Ohio State Highway Patrol conducts the computer system tests and he also plans to perform an accident reconstruction to determine the exact cause of the crash.
Several hours before the fatality, Warren police were conducting a traffic enforcement blitz at the corner of South Street and Highland Avenue S.W. According to police reports, 15 people were issued speeding citations between 10:15 a.m. and 1 p.m. Saturday.
The blitz was part of the department's High Visibility Enforcement Overtime grant awarded in September by the Ohio Department of Public Safety. The $42,155 grant began Oct. 1 and runs through Sept. 30, 2009. The grant reimburses the city for all salary and benefit costs for officers working overtime during traffic enforcement blitzes.
The grants are awarded based on alcohol-related crashes, traffic fatalities, speeding citations and seat belt violations.