An 85-year-old motorcyclist has died three days after a pickup truck making a left turn struck his motorcycle at a rural Miami County intersection, according to the Montgomery County Coroner's Office. Ted Strickler was riding his Honda ST1300 westbound on East U.S. Route 36 near Burr Oak New Hope Road last Tuesday afternoon when a Chevrolet 3500 pickup truck turning left hit the back right side of his bike.
The crash happened around 2:30 p.m. in Brown Township, according to a Miami County Sheriff's Office report cited by WHIO-TV. The driver, a 59-year-old man from Washington Court House who has not been publicly named in reporting, was attempting to turn onto Burr Oak New Hope Road when he failed to yield the right of way, per the sheriff's crash report. He was cited for failure to yield, according to the Dayton Daily News.
Strickler was wearing a helmet at the time of the crash, according to the crash report. He was initially taken to Upper Valley Medical Center in Miami County before being transferred to Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, where he died last Friday, three days after the collision, according to the Montgomery County Coroner's Office.
A Common and Deadly Crash Pattern
Left-turning vehicles striking oncoming motorcycles are among the most frequent causes of fatal motorcycle crashes nationwide. According to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data analyzed by Glaser & Ebbs, vehicles turning left into the path of an oncoming motorcycle account for 42% of all fatal two-vehicle motorcycle collisions across the country. Separate NHTSA crash data compiled by the Flickinger Legal Group shows passenger vehicle drivers were cited for failing to yield in 35.2% of two-vehicle motorcycle crashes, compared with just 3.6% of cases in which the motorcyclist was found at fault.
Researchers have pointed to a perception problem behind many of these crashes. Psychological research from Texas Tech University, cited by Hochman & Plunkett Co., L.P.A., indicates that drivers frequently misjudge a motorcycle's distance and speed because the human brain tends to perceive smaller visual objects, like a motorcycle, as farther away than larger vehicles such as pickup trucks or cars.
Statewide Numbers Show a Persistent Problem
The Miami County crash adds to a grim tally across Ohio. The Ohio Department of Public Safety recorded 4,023 motorcycle crashes statewide in 2023 alone, resulting in 230 motorcyclist deaths and more than 3,000 injuries, according to figures compiled by HNB Law. Ohio State Highway Patrol statistics show motorcycle crashes climbed for five consecutive years from 2018 through 2022, totaling 18,980 incidents that left 953 riders dead and more than 5,200 seriously injured, per figures from the Buckeye Law Group.
Motorcycle Ohio, a division of the Ohio Traffic Safety Office, runs rider education and safety awareness programs across the state, including a “Saved by the Helmet” recognition for riders who survive severe crashes because of their gear, among the more than 500,000 registered motorcycles in Ohio as of April 2024. Strickler's helmet did not save him, a reminder that state safety officials and researchers say is not unusual: no amount of protective gear guarantees survival when a motorcycle is struck by a heavy vehicle like a 3500-series pickup truck.
Minor Citation, Uncertain Legal Path Forward
For now, the driver faces only the failure-to-yield citation issued at the scene. Under Ohio Revised Code Section 4511.43, failing to yield the right-of-way is classified as a minor misdemeanor, carrying a maximum statutory fine of $150 and two penalty points against the driver's record with the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles, according to the Maher Law Firm. It remains unclear whether Miami County prosecutors will pursue additional charges now that the crash has resulted in a fatality, a question that has not yet been publicly addressed by local authorities.
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