Community Mourns Two Men Killed In Separate Motorcyle Accidents

Monday, April 23rd 2007, 8:06 pm

By: News On 6

Tragedy strikes twice in the same family of friends. Two fatal motorcycle accidents in less than one week, both attributed to excessive speed. News On 6 anchor Jennifer Loren talked with some of those friends and family members. She reports they say it is a horrible coincidence, but one they hope other riders will learn from.

"Itâ€™s just really hard to know that we won't have Devon anymore," said Nema Freeman, grandmother of victim Devon Seigal.

The devastation of losing her grandson is overwhelming for Freeman. Right now, she's just trying to make sense of why death would take such a wonderful person from everyone's lives. She says losing him has confirmed her worst fears.

"It really hurts to know how he was killed, on a motorcycle, because I didn't want him to have one,â€ said Freeman. â€œI was scared something would happen, and it did."

The group of young people that surrounded her is Seigalâ€™s friends, and some are fellow riders. His death, they say, has been a horrific loss, but mortality has become all too familiar for this group of friends. Just a week before Seigal was killed, another good friend of theirs, Brandon White, shared the exact same fate.

"We were all crushed and you know we just didn't know how to even get through it the first time, and then for this to happen the second time, itâ€™s not what I wanted to hear on Sunday when I woke up, that we lost another friend on a bike," said Jeremy Rutherford.

Officers say both men were driving way too fast on Highway 169 when they crashed their bikes.

"You just never think it could happen to you," said Greg Honeycutt.

Honeycutt is in disbelief, but he says, like White and Seigal, he knows how much fun it is to go fast on a bike. He says speed is like a drug.

"I've been with Devon down that same highway going 160 plus, and I'm not going to lie. To sit here and lie and act like people don't do it is a joke," said Honeycutt.

So, these friends want to send a message to every kid who has a speed bike and their parents. Ride smart because speed can kill you.

"You're not going to keep kids from going fast,â€ said Honeycutt. â€œIt ainâ€™t happening. You can't fight that battle and win. People need to learn to manage it and keep it off the streets."

Seigal and Whiteâ€™s friends say parents need to know more about the bikes they buy their kids. Many of them will go up to 200 miles per hour. They say, no matter what your kid says, if it will go that fast, your kid will test it. They suggest allowing them to speed, but take them to a track to do it.