A 59-year-old Anderson man died after his motorcycle collided with an SUV that was turning left into a private driveway on State Road 128 near Frankton late Saturday night. Jerry Dane was ejected from his 2014 Kawasaki on impact and later died from his injuries, according to the Madison County Sheriff's Department.
The crash happened just before 10:30 p.m. in the 4500 block of West State Road 128, according to WRTV, which first reported the crash and identified the driver as 21-year-old Madyx Nelson, also of Anderson. Nelson was driving a 2010 GMC Acadia westbound on State Road 128 and attempted to turn left into a private driveway when the SUV collided with Dane's eastbound motorcycle, per the outlet's report. Nelson remained at the scene and cooperated with investigators, the station reported, though Nelson's condition following the crash was not released.
Dane was airlifted to Ascension St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis following the collision, according to the same report. WTHR further confirmed the collision occurred just east of Frankton and that Dane was ejected before being flown by medical helicopter to the Indianapolis hospital. He did not survive his injuries. The Herald Bulletin reported that the sheriff's department publicly identified the deceased rider as Jerry Dane of Anderson.
Crash Investigators Examine Left-Turn Right-of-Way Question
The Madison County Sheriff's Department Crash Investigation Team is now working to determine exactly how the collision unfolded, the sheriff's department reported. Indiana law, specifically Indiana Code 9-21-8-35, requires that a driver intending to turn left yield the right-of-way to any oncoming vehicle that is within the intersection or close enough to pose an immediate hazard, according to state statute published by IN.gov. Whether the investigation results in citations or charges against Nelson has not been determined, and that remains an open question in the case.
It is also unclear whether Dane was wearing a helmet at the time of the crash. Under Indiana Code 9-19-7-1, motorcycle helmets are required only for riders under 18 or those holding a learner's permit, meaning adult endorsed riders like Dane were legally permitted to ride without one, per statutory language cited by Delventhal Law. Research compiled by the Indiana University Public Policy Institute found that 78% of motorcyclists killed in Indiana crashes in 2020 were not wearing helmets, and that helmet usage dropped to just 24% among riders aged 45 to 54, according to data compiled by the Tabor Law Firm.
A Familiar Pattern On Rural Indiana Roads
Left-turning vehicles are the single most common cause of fatal multi-vehicle motorcycle crashes nationally, accounting for 46% of such collisions, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data cited by Padberg Law. Motorcyclists nationally also face a per-mile fatality risk nearly 27 times higher than passenger car occupants, with 6,228 riders killed in U.S. traffic crashes in 2024 alone, representing 16% of all traffic deaths that year, per the same NHTSA figures.
Statewide, the danger has been climbing. Indiana recorded 2,790 motorcycle collisions in 2023, with fatalities rising 14% year-over-year to 141 deaths, according to statistics analyzed by the Indiana University Public Policy Institute and the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute cited by Wilson Kehoe Winingham.
Dane's death marks the latest in a string of fatal motorcycle crashes the Madison County Sheriff's Office has investigated this year involving left-turning vehicles. In July, Hoodline reported on a fatal crash near Alexandria in which 33-year-old Matthew Scott Doud died after a passenger vehicle turned into his path at Summitville Road and County Road 100 East. That same month, a separate Central Indiana motorcycle wreck near Lebanon left a passenger dead and a rider critically injured, requiring air medical transport to an Indianapolis trauma center. In August, an Elkhart motorcyclist was critically injured after a semi turned into his path along US 20, part of a broader pattern of larger vehicles turning across oncoming riders' lanes on Indiana roads.
