Posted on 11/30/2016 12:28:42 PM PST by Gamecock
The fatal accident was reported about 3:15 a.m. Wednesday near the intersection of Royal Palm Avenue and Sail Drive in Indian Harbour Beach.
Brevard County Fire Rescue crews and investigators were called to the beachside town after the body of David Kervin, 51, was found in the roadway near the motorized bike.
“He apparently suffered a head injury and was already deceased when we arrived,” said Don Walker, spokesman for Brevard County Fire Rescue. “It appeared he hit the turtle. He may have also been hit by another vehicle while lying injured."
Brevard deputies later said there was no evidence another vehicle was involved.
The turtle, described as a box turtle, survived the crash and managed to walk away with a minor injury. It was found nearby with a small crack on the bottom of its shell.
It was not immediately known if Kervin was wearing a helmet. Brevard County sheriff's deputies are conducting a traffic crash investigation. The Medical Examiner’s Office conducted an autopsy and said his injuries were consistent with accidentally falling from a bicycle.
Traffic investigators said such crashes involving turtles do happen, but they are rare.
"You see these kind of accidents very rarely. It's either a deer or bear when you hear of an animal involved in an accident," said Kim Montes, a spokeswoman with the Florida Highway Patrol.
Montes recalled a crash involving a turtle that was struck while attempting to cross a busy stretch of Interstate 4 in Volusia County.
"Somehow, the driver clipped the turtle at such an angle that it tossed the turtle into the windshield of another car," Montes said. "The troopers got there and pulled it out of the windshield and put it in a nearby body of water. It happens, but it's very rare."
Lol!
The picture accompanying the story isn’t that of a box turtle. If you place a box turtle into water that is more than a few inches deep, the box turtle can actually drown. They are land creatures, and are poor swimmers.
Final Destination XIIV
Slow and steady usually wins.
Did anybody think to interview the turtle?
Every time I see a box turtle in the road, I stop and bring it in my car and take it home, where I release it. I have 32 acres. I’m hoping to start a box turtle attraction as long as they all stay nearby.
We’ll see how it works out.
(I’m kidding)
Idiot liberals were constantly putting Gopher Tortoises into the water.
The good thing about box turtles is that they can be stacked neatly in your garage.
You’re not supposed to remove them from their ancestral territory.
Pick them up and take them to the side they were heading for, instead.
They have very specific paths they take to vernal pools during mating season, and if they are taken from that general area, they’ll just try to get back there and probably end up on the road, again.
Nothing good happens after midnight.
Holy hardshell batman!
My daughter clipped a turtle in a similar manner when I was teaching her how to drive. It didn’t hit another vehicle but I watched in the mirror as it reached a truly impressive altitude at the top of its arc.
Only semi related bicycle song I know but this one takes place at 4AM.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEpD9RH-Wds
Yikes... just happened to see this.
That's easy.
Never, but NEVER ride a motorized bicycle.
Ever.
Not worried...I have rescued numerous turtles crossing the interstate/rural roads over the course of my life...I am confident I will get a pass when it gets ugly. :-)
The odds are pretty good that my obituary will include some variation of “and then she ran out onto the road...”
;D
Only if they are Willie Nelson turtles.
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