DaveInDaytona
Pro
Posts: 1696
|
posted August 05, 2004 05:45 PM
Don't try this ! Rider Goes Off Seabreeze Bridge, and is OK
If you've been to Daytona you know how high that bridge is.
Motorcyclist Rescued After Sliding Off Bridge, Falling 70 Feet
POSTED: 6:59 am EDT August 5, 2004
UPDATED: 8:57 am EDT August 5, 2004
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- A police officer and a fisherman reeled in quite a catch in Daytona Beach. A motorcyclist slipped off Seabreeze Bridge and landed in the Halifax River. The officer and the fisherman then came to his rescue.
There was a man fishing around 11:30 Wednesday night, when he saw 24-year-old Matthew Allen Schaub fall about 70-80 feet into the water.
"We heard a screech, like something hit the side railings up there. We didn't see the wreck, we just saw some guy flying through the water. I told my boyfriend to call somebody or do something," says eyewitness Berni Palmer.
According to police, Schaub smashed into the concrete barrier and then was thrown over the bridge and into the river. The fisherman swam toward the bridge with the current, but was having difficulty bringing Schaub back to shore.
That's when Officer Dawn Harris jumped in and helped rescue the motorcyclist.
The Daytona Beach Police Department is trying to find out why Schaub lost control of his motorcycle.
Schuab is fortunate to be alive. He was taken to the hospital with minor injuries.
____________
DaytonaSportbikes Forum
   
|
TurboBlew
Moderator
BUSY DOING THE SCHIAVO
Posts: 4590
|
posted August 05, 2004 06:20 PM
Wow.....lol.
We had a freak accident in Jacksonville a few years back where a girl got tossed from the top of the Matthews bridge. THats three times as high as Seabreeze... she was picked up by a barge.
|
necro
Needs a job
My Grandma Is A Virgin
Posts: 2148
|
posted August 05, 2004 06:53 PM
In one piece?!...
____________
3829
|
vozizm
Needs a job
Got Nothing Witty To Say
Posts: 4417
|
posted August 06, 2004 08:49 AM
How she got tossed ?
|
DaveInDaytona
Pro
Posts: 1696
|
posted August 06, 2004 12:04 PM
Update from the online version of the paper. They left out when he "wobbled" that he was doing a stand up wheelie. According to a freind that visited him last night all the guys he was riding with took off when he wrecked.
Biker pitched off bridge in satisfactory condition
By JAY STAPLETON
Staff Writer
Last update: 06 August 2004
DAYTONA BEACH -- Kristen Bugland watched in horror Wednesday night as her good friend lost control of his motorcycle, struck a concrete barrier and flew headfirst off the high-rise Seabreeze Bridge.
Bugland, who was following Matt Schaub on her own motorcycle, ran to the guardrail and looked 85 feet down into the murky Halifax River. She could barely make out his body in the water. But then she heard his voice, calling up to her.
"The first thing he asked was, 'how's the bike?' " Bugland said.
Witnesses said 24-year-old Schaub turned his body in the air on the way down and hit the water feet first with his arms over his head.
"That's what saved his life," said Bugland, 19.
The impact shattered the face shield on Schaub's helmet. He took the helmet off as it filled with water, witnesses said.
An experienced rider and surfer, Schaub was pulled from the black water under the tall sloping bridge shortly before midnight Wednesday, when a quick-thinking Daytona Beach police officer, a Florida Highway Patrol trooper and local fisherman jumped in to save him.
Schaub was taken to Halifax Medical Center by EVAC ambulance. He was admitted to the hospital with cuts and scrapes to his face, arms and legs, and a possible concussion, police said. Schaub was listed in satisfactory condition Thursday.
Schaub and Bugland were riding east across the Oakridge Boulevard span of the Seabreeze Bridge on their way to Bugland's home after a night riding around.
Bugland, who was on her black and yellow Suzuki GSXR 600 motorcycle behind Schaub's black and yellow Honda 929, said she checked her rearview mirror and then looked ahead to see Schaub's motorcycle wobbling right to left.
Bugland saw him strike and then fly over the barrier. He tried to grab at the concrete before falling, she said, but touched only air.
"He did a 'Superman' over the side of the bridge," Bugland said. "I thought he was dead and I was going to have to explain (what happened) to his parents."
At a boat ramp on the river's east shore, Michael Kohl and his live-in girlfriend, Veronique Palmer, 21, were fishing in the moonlight when they heard "a boom," then a splash and a voice calling for help, Palmer said.
Kohl, 34, a computer programmer and father of two, took his shoes off and swam about 100 yards to help Schaub. They were on their way back to shore when, police said, Kohl started showing signs of fatigue.
"He's a hero," Palmer said of Kohl, who declined to be interviewed.
And there were other heroes.
Police Officer Dawn Harris and Trooper Sean Dwan took off their gun belts and swam out to help both men from the water.
Schaub appeared to be slipping under and losing consciousness when the rescuers reached him, a police report said.
"He's extremely fortunate that they were able to locate him." police spokesman Sgt. Al Tolley said.
Schaub is the third motorcyclist to crash and plunge from a bridge in the state in the past 11 days, and is the only rider to survive.
On July 26, a man riding a scooter the wrong way across a bridge over the Matanzas River near St. Augustine was struck by a car and thrown 70 feet into the water. The body of Dale Jobson, 30, of St. Augustine was recovered two days later. The same week, a 50-year-old woman from Mexico was killed when she was thrown from a motorcycle on the Seven Mile Bridge in the Keys and fell 30 feet into the water.
Bruce Schaub, Matt's father, said there must have been "an angel on his shoulder," and called himself "the luckiest man in the world today."
Schaub's father, who recently helped his son open a Big Smoke cigar store on State Road A1A near Seabreeze Boulevard, said he taught his son to surf at age 5.
"Good thing he was a surfer," said the elder Schaub. "He's had good experience at long falls in the water.''
____________
DaytonaSportbikes Forum
|
TurboBlew
Moderator
BUSY DOING THE SCHIAVO
Posts: 4590
|
posted August 06, 2004 01:39 PM
Car crashed at the top of the Matthews Bridge... she was ejected. It was a miracle on a few counts she survived.
Luck was on her side because:
-She couldnt swim
-It was high tide
-A barge was within 50yds of her
-she somehow managed to get thrown from the car in perfect fashion without hitting the huge steel bolts and girders!
-That she was on the outside lane.
Had she been ejected into the road... she would have been graded "cheese"...lol.
quote:
How she got tossed ?
|
Hells Dark Lord
Needs a life
living life, and loving it.
Posts: 7981
|
posted August 07, 2004 04:23 AM
that guy had better not rely on luck for anything the rest of his life, he just used up his share.....lol
____________
When in doubt, lean farther and go faster....
|
|
|
|
|
HOME
NEW TOPIC