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Spanish motorcycle rider dies of injuries after crash

Spanish Moto 2 rider Luis Salom has died from his injuries after crashing in Catalonia Grand Prix practice on Friday, race organisers confirmed.

Published: 4 June 2016 12:49 CEST

Spanish motorcycle rider dies of injuries after crash

Medical personnel evacuate Luis Salom from the track on Friday. Photo: Josep Lago/AFP

The 24-year-old SAG team rider crashed at Turn 12 at the challenging Montmelo track near Barcelona with 25 minutes left in Moto2 Free Practice 2.

“Two medical cars and then two ambulances were immediately on scene to treat the 24-year-old and the medical helicopter was also deployed to assist in his treatment,” organisers said in a statement.

“Due the severity of his condition, the decision was taken to transfer Salom by road to the nearby Hospital General de Catalunya.

“On arrival, he underwent surgery, but despite the best efforts of the trauma team, he passed away at 1655 local time (1455 GMT).”

Salom made his world championship debut at Jerez in 2009 in the 125cc category, and finished on the podium 25 times — with nine wins in the Moto3 category.

He was runner-up in the 2012 Moto3 world championship and third overall in 2013.

He also finished on the podium three times in 41 appearances in the Moto2 world championship, including a second place in the opening round of 2016 at Losail in Qatar.

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Eleven motorcyclists killed on German roads over long weekend

File picture shows the scene of motorbike crash on March 8th in Brieselang, Brandenburg. Photo: DPA

Police said a series of motorbike accidents had happened over the holiday weekend in different locations across Germany, leading to several fatalities.

It came as new figures showed that more than one in five people killed on Germany's roads are motorcyclists, despite far fewer of them on the road compared with other drivers.

Of the 3,265 people who died on roads nationwide last year, 699 were motorcyclists, according to the Federal Statistical Office.

Spate of deadly crashes over the Easter weekend

In Posthausen, Lower Saxony on Good Friday, a 20-year-old woman motorcyclist died after colliding with a crash barrier.

At Kirchen in Rhineland-Palatinate, a 37-year-old biker was involved in a crash with oncoming traffic on Saturday night and died at the scene, police said.

Meanwhile, in Essen, North-Rhine Westphalia, a 44-year-old motorcyclist was pronounced dead at the scene of a crash on Saturday.

At Geislingen, Baden-Württemberg, a 51-year-old lost control of his motorbike while overtaking a vehicle on Easter Sunday, according to police reports. He collided with the crash barrier. A rescue helicopter flew the biker to a clinic where he later died.

Near Rechberghausen, a 69-year-old biker was killed when he overtook a car with a trailer on a country road.

On Good Friday a motorcyclist had died in Schwanau, also Baden-Württemberg, when a 26-year-old who was driving a car collided head-on with a motorcycle while overtaking.

'Many underestimate demanding routes'

Police said speeding and a lack of knowledge of routes were often partly to blame for accidents involving motorbikes.

“Many underestimate the long journey or the demanding routes,” a police spokesman said.

As reported by regional news site, Stuttgarter Nachrichten, and other German media outlets,the fatalities took place during a sunny Easter weekend across the country – weather which may have encouraged more motorcyclists out onto the roads.

In Hesse’s Biebergemünd, a 48-year-old motorcyclist was involved in a crash over the weekend. He died at the scene. On Autobahn 3 near Frankfurt am Main, a 66-year-old biker crashed. He was taken to hospital but later died.

On Monday evening, a man died in an accident in the Kassel district between Schauenburg and Habichtswald. While trying to overtake a vehicle, the 61-year-old lost control and crashed into an oncoming car on Autobahn 44, police said.

Near Quedlinburg in Saxony-Anhalt, a biker collided head-on with a car and died at the scene of the accident.

A similar crash occurred near Elbingerode in the Harz Mountains on Saturday. According to the police, a motorcyclist drove into the oncoming lane at a right-hand bend and collided with a car. He died at the scene.

It comes after six people tragically died in motorbike crashes during the first weekend of April in North Rhine-Westphalia.

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