Last Updated: Monday, August 11, 2008 | 11:05 AM AT CBC News
Four motorcyclists, including a bridegroom, who were headed to CFB Gagetown for a wedding were rushed to hospital on Saturday after a multi-vehicle collision.
A car drifted across the centre line on Lincoln Road near Oromocto, N.B., around 2:45 p.m. on Saturday and plowed into 10 members of a motorcycle club who were on their way to provide a wedding escort as a surprise for the bride, police said.
The groom was leading the group down the road toward the military base, where the wedding was to be held. He was struck, along with four other motorcyclists, as the car crossed the line. His injuries were among the most severe.
The driver of the car appeared to initially nick the handlebars of one of the bikes before driving into the first and second motorcyclists, said Graham Leslie, who was riding in the ninth position of the staggered-packet bike formation.
The car then appeared to lose control and spun around, striking a third and fourth motorcycle before having more minor collisions with the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth bikes in the formation, Leslie said.
"I couldn't believe this was happening in front of me," Leslie said. "To me, it seemed to be happening in slow motion."
Leslie said his more than 30 years of experience helped him avoid the collision.
The motorcyclist in the 10th position went down when an unrelated car that had fallen in between the ninth and 10th bikes suddenly braked to try to avoid the accident. The rider chose to lay her bike down and slide into the rear of the vehicle rather than risk a worse collision, Leslie said.
Groom worst injured
Four of the motorcyclists were rushed to Fredericton's Dr. Everett Chalmers Hospital. Three were in serious condition, while one was treated and released.
The motorcyclists who were hit are lucky to be alive, Leslie said.
Broken legs, broken arms, broken noses, concussions and whiplash are among the injuries that the motorcyclists received in the accident, Leslie said.
The groom was the worst injured, Leslie said.
Inattentive driving due to driver distraction was likely a contributing factor in the accident, said RCMP Staff Sgt. Gary Cameron.
No charges have been laid yet and the investigation is continuing.
The driver of the car had a small child aboard. Neither was injured.
The motorcyclists are members of a Fredericton-area club known as the Passchendaele Unit, which is part of the Canadian Army Veteran Motorcycle Units association.
The injured riders, all males, are in their 30s and 40s.
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Topic: Groom, motorcyclists hurt as driver drifts into oncoming traffic (Read 735 times)