Categories: Lifestyle

Corpus Christi Motorcycle Officer Hurt In Motorcycle Accident

A Corpus Christi Police Department motorcycle officer was injured in an accident on South Padre Island Drive. The collision took place near Paul Jones Road along State Highway 358.

While the exact nature of the crash is still unknown, the victim, Horacio Rene Solis, is believed to have been chasing after a traffic violator on the highway. The highway was shut down after the accident, and traffic was diverted during the investigation.

Solis incurred multiple injuries in the accident, but none appear to be life-threatening. Police have yet to talk to Solis or view the footage on his motorcycle camera.

IMAGE: PIXABAY

The motorcycle officer’s accident isn’t the first to make headlines. Just a few short weeks after the incident, a motorcyclist traveling at dangerous speeds on Highway 181 was killed. Witnesses called 911 to report the rider, but he was killed moments after he was spotted.

That accident occurred around 2 a.m. at the 4800 block of the state highway. The victim, Joshua Black, was already dead at the scene.

Black, who was wearing a helmet, lost control of his bike and collided with a light pole. The impact from the pole sent Black flying to the other side of the highway, where he was run over by multiple vehicles. Findings from the Medical Examiner’s Office indicate that Black was likely killed instantly when he hit the pole.

Wet weather is to blame for Black losing control of his motorcycle. The fact that Black was wearing a helmet made little difference in the outcome of the accident, police say. The impact would have killed him whether he was wearing a helmet or not.

[pullquote]Just a month before the officer’s accident, another motorcyclist was killed after colliding with an 18-wheeler truck.[/pullquote] This accident occurred in Robstown, where police were called to the scene at 7 p.m.

Albert Stout, Interim Police Chief, said the truck driver did not yield to the motorcyclist while turning onto Highway 77. The rider, Dana Brooks, was declared dead at the scene of the accident. While the truck driver was not arrested, there is an ongoing investigation into the incident.

There were 8,181 motorcycle accidents in Texas in 2015, and a large percentage of them occurred in busy cities like Corpus Christi.

The Texas Department of Transportation recently reported that the number of motorcycle fatalities increased 6% between 2015 and 2016. In 2016, there were 496 fatal motorcycle crashes, and 2,008 crashes left passengers with incapacitating injuries. The number of accidents in El Paso represented 3% of the statewide total, with 552 crashes reported last year.

In all of the accidents that occurred, 5,118 riders were not wearing helmets. Last year, 18 motorcycle accident deaths involved riders who were 23 years old. An equal number of deaths involved people who were 58 years of age. Riders who are overconfident are more likely to get into an accident, experts say.

Experts say part of the problem is that motorcyclists buy bikes they can’t handle. High-performance bikes may be too much for novice riders to operate safely.

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