Two Wheels and Too Much Speed

It was a late Sunday morning, when the young man made a series of decisions that ultimately ended his life. The young man, Christian Holmes, died on an exit ramp from I-95 in Jupiter, FL.

He was riding on his beloved motorcycle heading south, towards his home in Broward County. Maybe, he was blowing off steam or he was anxious to get home to his fiancé or it was just the sunny weather. But he chose to exceed the speed limit by enough to catch the attention of the FHP.

The trooper attempted to overtake Christian. But rather than stop and get his ticket, he made another choice to outrun the law. For 12 miles it went in his favor. It only took 6 minutes to cover the distance according to Lt. Tim Frith, a Florida Highway Patrol spokesman. That’s about 120 miles per hour.

Then Mr. Holmes made his final decision. Who knows how things would have turned out had he taken the first exit, 87B. It is a long gently curved ramp down to the westbound lanes. But instead, he exited the highway by taking exit 87A. This ramp has such a sharp curve that circles back around to the east bound lanes, the posted speed limit is just 20 mph. His speed was so great he could not hold the curve and crashed into the metal guardrail.

He lost his life before the paramedics got there.

What decisions would you have made?

Anyone with information about this crash is asked to call Sgt. Kurt Hardley at (561) 357-4119