Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) – Over the last couple of weeks, there have been several fatal accidents involving motorcyclists across Western New York. Just this past weekend, a 50-year-old motorcyclist was killed in the Town of Burns in Allegany County, while a 38-year-old was also killed in a separate incident in the Town of Aurora in Erie County.
Motorcyclists dead after two separate crashes over weekend
New York State Trooper James O’Callaghan says the rise in fatal motorcycle crashes is alarming, but not unexpected.
“Usually between Memorial Day and Labor Day is where we see most of our collisions and most of our fatal collisions, especially with teen drivers (‘100 Deadliest Days),” said O’Callaghan in an interview with WBEN. “Obviously, motorcycles start to appear on the roadways in May because of the nicer weather, and obviously will ride through to the fall. Unfortunately, a lot of those collisions recently, a handful of them are New York State Police investigated either due to extreme speeds or excess excessive speeds, we’ve seen that being a primary factor. We’ve seen other motor vehicles not taking the time to look for or acknowledge motorcycles being on the roadway.”
New York State Police has seen an 84% increase in motorcycle collisions from 2024-to-2025…