Another death raises motorcycle rally’s fatality count

There has been another traffic fatality associated with this year’s Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.  

The latest death happened Thursday when a 2004 Harley Davidson motorcycle was traveling eastbound in the westbound lanes of Interstate 90 and hit a 2008 GMC Yukon head-on, according to the Highway Patrol. The 61-year-old male driver of the motorcycle was wearing a helmet but was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver and passengers of the GMC were not injured. 

The first two deaths officially associated with the rally happened Sunday when a 54-year-old female motorcycle passenger was pronounced dead at the scene of a multi-vehicle collision, and a 41-year-old male motorcycle driver was pronounced dead at the scene after he failed to negotiate a curve and tumbled into a ditch.

In its official “rally tally,” the Highway Patrol only includes traffic deaths that have occurred in western South Dakota since the first Saturday morning of the rally. There have been several other traffic deaths that may have been associated with the rally but occurred outside of those official parameters, including:

• A 64-year-old man who died Friday when his motorcycle crashed into a ditch near Midland.
• A 65-year-old man who died when he failed to negotiate a curve in Custer State Park with his motorcycle on July 31.
• A 68-year-old man who died on Aug. 2 when he failed to maintain his lane of travel on his motorcycle, crossed onto the I-90 median and became separated from his bike.

Thursday’s Highway Patrol news release also included a snapshot of arrest totals from 6 a.m. Saturday through 6 a.m. Thursday.

Misdemeanor and felony drug arrests, non-injury and injury accidents, and total citations are trending up. Meanwhile, drunken driving, cash seized and warnings given are trending down.

There was an officer-involved shooting on Wednesday in Sturgis that is under investigation by the state Division of Criminal Investigation.

Traffic counters in Sturgis have recorded an 11% drop in traffic compared to the most recent five-year average for the rally. The weather may be one factor in that trend, because the rally’s opening days were unseasonably cool and rainy.

The rally began Aug. 4 and continues through this Sunday.