SAN ANTONIO \u2014 A string of deadly motorcycle crashes across San Antonio and the surrounding area has left three riders dead and another critically injured in just five days, with investigators pointing to speed as a common factor.<\/p>\n
The victims range in age from 17 to 39. They include 19-year-old Nathaniel Perez, who died near U.S. 281 and Interstate 35; a 17-year-old Smithson Valley student who died on SH-46; and 39-year-old Jeremy Akers, who died at the Fine Silver Curve. A fourth rider was critically injured in an East Side crash.<\/p>\n
San Antonio police Detective Dominic Garcia said speed has been a major issue in recent crashes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe’re seeing speed being a main factor in these crashes. Recently, we’ve had two in the downtown area where speed definitely was a factor, but there is also where these two crashes occurred. There are curves,\u201d Garcia said.<\/p>\n
Garcia, who has been with the San Antonio Police Department for nearly 16 years and has been riding for 45, said that so far this year the department has responded to 355 motorcycle-involved crashes. Nineteen of those crashes were fatal, and three of the fatal crashes involved riders not wearing helmets.<\/p>\n
Garcia urged riders to focus on visibility, speed and following traffic laws.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to stay visible, you have ride within your means, you have watch your speed, you have obey the rules of the road.,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He also emphasized training as a key step in preventing crashes, noting that safety resources are available across the region.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe education that a rider can take definitely is there. There are motorcycle safety courses all throughout San Antonio and South Texas,\u201d Garcia said.<\/p>\n
Motorcycle safety instructor Arsenio De Lara said riding can become especially dangerous without proper preparation and adherence to safety practices.<\/p>\n
\u201cMotorcycling is super dangerous. Yes, it is. It can be if you, number one, don’t have the right training. And number two, you don’t follow the safety protocols that have been put in place,\u201d De Lara said.<\/p>\n
Garcia said riders should understand the risks, stay alert and take precautions to improve their chances of making it home safely.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou always want to begin every ride and end every ride where it should be, which is back at the house.,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN ANTONIO \u2014 A string of deadly motorcycle crashes across San Antonio and the surrounding area has left…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":430386,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[82,84,83],"class_list":["post-430385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-headlines","tag-san-antonio-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=430385"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430385\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/430386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=430385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=430385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=430385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}