Bike Week deaths rise to six after nearly 70 accidents

DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA - Three people were killed in a spate of motorcycle accidents this week, including nearly 70 crashes so far this weekend, bringing the number of deaths during Bike Week to six by Saturday. <br> <br> The injured included four Georgia residents. <br> <br> Emergency workers responded to 49 motorcycle accidents on Friday and 20 more crashes by early Saturday, said Mark O&#39;Keefe, a spokesman for EVAC Ambulance. That was the most accidents EVAC has responded to over two days at Bike Week in 21 years, he said. <br> <br> Two people were killed when a motorcycle collided with a sport utility vehicle in an intersection near the Daytona International Speedway at 2:40 a.m. Saturday, said O&#39;Keefe. The man and woman riding the bike were pronounced dead at the scene, he said. <br> <br> Daytona Beach police did not immediately release the names of the victims, who were in their 30s, O&#39;Keefe said. O&#39;Keefe said he did not know if the two were wearing helmets. <br> <br> Meanwhile, an Indiana motorcyclist died Thursday at Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach from injuries he suffered in a crash in Ormond Beach, officials said Friday. <br> <br> Kevin Fish, 30, wasn&#39;t wearing a helmet when he crashed into a parked pickup Monday, police said. A hometown was not immediately known, and police could not be reached for comment Saturday. <br> <br> In another accident, four Georgia motorcyclists were hospitalized Friday after a multiple-vehicle crash in Flagler Beach that ended with a car skidding over the dunes and onto the beach. <br> <br> Three of the four motorcyclists were taken to Halifax, officials said. Their names, conditions and hometowns were not immediately available Saturday. <br> <br> The fourth biker, Forest Hardeman, 30, of Stockbridge, Ga., was taken to Memorial Hospital-Flagler and released. <br> <br> A Massachusetts woman was in stable condition Saturday at Halifax, recovering from an accident Thursday in Edgewater. <br> <br> Brenda Hoffman, 53, of Kingston, Mass., was airlifted to the hospital after the bike she was riding on slammed into a car. Peter Hoffman, her husband, was driving the bike and was not injured. Police said neither was wearing a helmet. <br> <br> Bike Week started March 1 and ends Sunday.

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