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Biker flips over car after rear-ending it

The motorcyclist is alive after the wreck on the Courtney Campbell Parkway because of his helmet, police say.

By JACOB H. FRIES
Published August 10, 2005

CLEARWATER - A 23-year-old Tampa man was critically injured early Tuesday when he sped his motorcycle into a car on the Courtney Campbell Parkway, throwing him over the vehicle onto its windshield, authorities said.

At 1:30 a.m., Alexander Michael Lynch idled at a traffic light on Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard, waiting to go east onto the causeway, said Clearwater police spokesman Wayne Shelor. Lynch had spent part of the night at the Bricktown 54 nightclub on McMullen-Booth Road, Shelor said.

"We believe he was probably impaired," Shelor said. "But speed clearly is a factor."

When the light turned, Lynch raced east at a "very high rate" of speed, then smashed into the rear of a Daewoo car headed in the same direction, Shelor said.

The impact tore off the front wheel of Lynch's 2004 Sukuki. It also caused him to fly over the back of the Daewoo onto its windshield and then onto the roadway.

Lynch, who was wearing a helmet, was flown by helicopter to St. Joseph's Hospital, where he remained in critical condition Monday, a hospital spokesman said.

"I'm certain the helmet played a part in his surviving this high-speed wreck," Shelor said.

Sonia Andrade, 57, of Tampa, who was driving the car Lynch struck, was treated and released from St. Joseph's while passenger Maria Maldonado-Romero, 27, was still being evaluated Monday afternoon, the hospital spokesman said.

No charges have been filed in the case.

Driving records show Lynch has received numerous citations since 1998, including speeding and driving under the influence.

Phone messages left at Lynch's home were not returned Tuesday evening.

Jacob H. Fries can be reached at 445-4156 or jfries@sptimes.com

[Last modified August 10, 2005, 00:37:16]