Motorcycle accident news
13/07/2007

Teenager killed on first day of epic road trip

An 'Easy Rider' style trip across the United States has ended in tragedy following a motorcycle accident that claimed the life of an 18-year-old boy.

The Welsh teenager and his father were planning to spend ten months riding 3,000 miles across America on Kawasaki KLR 650s but had covered only 35 miles when the tragic motorbike accident occurred.

It is believed that the youngster's bike lost power whilst the pair were travelling on the Costa Mesa Freeway near Los Angeles and he was subsequently hit by a passing truck. His father had been riding ahead and was only alerted to the road accident by a passing road user.

Returning to the scene of the motorbike accident, he found his son being cared for by other road users. Emergency services soon arrived and the youngster was rushed to hospital with serious personal injuries but died in hospital five hours later.

Paying tribute to his son, the heartbroken 47-year-old father said, "I will forever treasure the all too short time he was alive. He was the dearest friend and the most wonderful person I have known. He was my life."

The teenager's mother echoed these sentiments, saying, "How do you describe the ones you love? He was a beautiful, bright son but that does not really describe him. He was intelligent, articulate, caring - he was my son, my lovely son."

The truck that caused the tragic motorcycle accident failed to stop and police officers are now searching for the driver.