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By ED QUIOCO
© St. Petersburg Times, published July 17, 2000
ST. PETERSBURG -- A motorcyclist was killed and his passenger was seriously injured Sunday evening when his motorcycle hit the side of a car and swerved out of control.
The couple, a 52-year-old man and a 40-year-old woman he was dating, were thrown several feet after the collision on Fifth Avenue N with a Pontiac Grand Am driven by Alton Nelson, 22, of St. Petersburg. Police said neither the motorcyclist nor his passenger was wearing a helmet.
"Why did this have to happen to me?" said Nelson, who was visibly distraught. "Why wasn't he wearing a helmet?"
St. Petersburg police did not release the name of the motorcyclist or his passenger, who was in serious but stable condition Sunday night at Bayfront Medical Center.
Nelson and the motorcyclist were heading west on Fifth Avenue N about 6:10 p.m. when the motorcycle's handlebars swiped the car's passenger-side mirror near 30th Street, police said. The motorcycle then swerved onto the sidewalk and brushed a palm tree as the driver tried to regain control.
"I just heard the motorcycle coming and that's all," said 21-year-old Carl Cameron, a passenger in the Pontiac. "Then I felt it hit the car."
The motorcycle then swerved back on the street and went through a puddle before the driver and passenger were ejected near the intersection. After the accident, the motorcycle was on its side about 50 feet from the motorcyclist's body, which was covered by a blanket.
The motorcycle was accelerating and weaving through the traffic on Fifth Avenue N, said Marci Reedy, who saw the motorcycle pass her family's car just before the accident.
"He wasn't driving dangerously," said Reedy, 28, of St. Petersburg. "He might have cut it too tight. There was nothing anyone could do about it."
Police were still investigating the crash late Sunday. No charges were expected.
The motorcyclist's death occurred just weeks after Florida's longstanding mandatory helmet law came to an end when Gov. Jeb Bush signed a bill repealing it. Starting this month, cyclists 21 or older can ride without helmets if they have $10,000 worth of personal injury insurance.
It was not clear whether a helmet would have made a difference Sunday. Police are awaiting autopsy results.
Craig Gaudren, 21, and his girlfriend, Tiea Pruitt, 21, were riding his Yamaha motorcycle Sunday when they came upon the accident scene and stopped to see what had happened. Since the law was repealed, Gaudren said, he has noticed that some motorcyclists have chosen not to wear helmets.
Gaudren, of St. Petersburg, said he has worn a helmet since he started riding a motorcycle five years ago and plans to continue.
"I just know that a lot of people aren't wearing helmets anymore," he said.
- Staff photographer Boyzell Hosey contributed to this report.