A Clifton Park woman was killed Monday morning when her motorcycle was hit by a dump truck on Route 9 near the Crescent Bridge, leading to major traffic backups throughout the morning.
State police said Jacalyn F. Gibbs, 54, was operating a 2000 Harley-Davidson that was struck by a Kenworth dump truck at Route 9 and Church Hill Road around 6:40 a.m.
Police said their investigation determined that Gibbs had maneuvered her motorcycle to be in front of the dump truck while both were stopped at the Route 9 southbound traffic light, and the truck driver did not see her do this.
When the light turned green, the truck driver, whom police did not identify, did not see the motorcyclist over the hood of his truck and accelerated over her. The motorcycle was dragged a short distance, police said. They said efforts to resuscitate Gibbs were unsuccessful and she died at the scene.
That section of Route 9 was closed into early afternoon while police did an accident reconstruction. The truck driver was not ticketed.
The woman’s death came one week after a weekend in which five people suffered fatal injuries in motorcycle accidents around the Capital Region.
Between June 8 and 10, there were four motorcycle accidents that killed five people who were either riders or passengers.
Paul Mendoza, 42, of Milton, died June 8 when his bike failed to negotiate a curve on North Shore Road in Day.
The following day, a motorist in White Creek, Washington County, turned in front of a motorcycle on Route 22, resulting in the deaths of driver Steven Susee, 24, of Salem, and a passenger, Shirley Waite of Cambridge.
That same day in Bolton, Warren County, Timothy Wood, 49, of Scotia, was mortally injured when his motorcycle hit a guardrail on Lake Shore Drive. He succumbed to his injuries a week later at Albany Medical Center. A passenger, Terri Costello of Schenectady, was seriously injured.
Then on Sunday, June 10, Bobby Bower, 21, of Amsterdam, died when he hit a parked car in that city.
The recent incidents highlight a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration finding that per mile traveled, motorcyclists are 39 times more likely than those in cars to be killed in an accident.
The number of motorcycles on New York roads is rising.
There are currently 655,000 licensed motorcyclists and 340,000 registered motorcycles, the state Department of Motor Vehicles reported in May.
The number of people with motorcycle licenses is up 28 percent in the last 10 years, according to DMV.
May was National Motorcycle Safety Month, when federal and state officials urged other drivers to be on the lookout for motorcycles during the warm-weather months, and motorcyclists to wear proper gear and drive safely.
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